Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Director Sells $19,323.00 in Stock

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Director Walter G. Reinhard sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $19,323.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,067.91. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Middlesex Water Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of MSEX stock traded down $1.78 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.15. 57,252 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 120,728. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.21.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $47.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.00 million. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middlesex Water

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSEX. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 349.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 23,262 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 7.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 434,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,356,000 after buying an additional 3,430 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 86,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,560,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSEX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Baird R W upgraded Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company.

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.