Intech Investment Management LLC Invests $271,000 in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSEX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 5,833 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 107.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 65.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 9,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 219,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,451,000 after purchasing an additional 24,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

Middlesex Water stock opened at $61.88 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $65.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.03. Middlesex Water has a 1 year low of $45.42 and a 1 year high of $73.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $55.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. This is a boost from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.13%.

About Middlesex Water

Middlesex Water Company owns and operates regulated water utility and wastewater systems. It operates in Regulated and Non-Regulated segments. The Regulated segment collects, treats, and distributes water on a retail and wholesale basis to residential, commercial, industrial, and fire protection customers, as well as provides regulated wastewater systems in New Jersey and Delaware.