Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Short Interest Update

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 578,500 shares, a decrease of 23.0% from the December 15th total of 751,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 117,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSEX. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSEX. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 7.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 813,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,070,000 after acquiring an additional 53,098 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water in the 2nd quarter worth $2,016,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,889,000 after buying an additional 35,282 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 349.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after buying an additional 23,262 shares during the period. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd purchased a new stake in Middlesex Water in the third quarter worth about $1,392,000. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Middlesex Water Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Middlesex Water stock traded up $0.31 on Wednesday, reaching $50.02. The company had a trading volume of 93,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 124,499. 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 50-day moving average price is $59.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.45. The firm has a market cap of $893.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.85. Middlesex Water has a 1 year low of $45.42 and a 1 year high of $70.73.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The business had revenue of $55.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Middlesex Water’s payout ratio is 59.13%.

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.