Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Upgraded to Outperform at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $61.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Bank of America assumed coverage on Middlesex Water in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

NASDAQ MSEX opened at $58.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.85. Middlesex Water has a 52 week low of $45.42 and a 52 week high of $70.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.18.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $47.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSEX. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,471,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,440,000 after purchasing an additional 126,732 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 751.4% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 91,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,817,000 after purchasing an additional 80,779 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 187.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 92,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,871,000 after purchasing an additional 60,337 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 7.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 813,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,070,000 after purchasing an additional 53,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,619,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.