Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $66.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Middlesex Water Stock Down 1.9%

Middlesex Water stock opened at $55.17 on Monday. Middlesex Water has a twelve month low of $48.18 and a twelve month high of $70.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.47. The company has a market capitalization of $988.65 million, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $44.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.79 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Middlesex Water news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $244,223.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 52,112 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,325.60. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Middlesex Water

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 148,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,548,000 after purchasing an additional 46,562 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,952,000 after purchasing an additional 9,894 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Middlesex Water in the 1st quarter worth approximately $524,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water during the 1st quarter valued at $359,000. Finally, Northstar Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water during the 1st quarter valued at $1,240,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.