Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MSEX. Baird R W upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSEX opened at $57.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.10. Middlesex Water has a 1 year low of $48.18 and a 1 year high of $70.73.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $44.30 million during 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%. Research analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.43%.

Insider Transactions at Middlesex Water

In other news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $244,223.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 52,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,129,325.60. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middlesex Water

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 0.7% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,952,000 after buying an additional 9,894 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,412,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,533,000 after acquiring an additional 20,876 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 303,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,452,000 after buying an additional 48,072 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 223,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,755,000 after acquiring an additional 23,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 214,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,311,000 after acquiring an additional 6,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Middlesex Water Company Profile

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.