Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,918 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Middlesex Water were worth $5,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Middlesex Water by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 434,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,356,000 after acquiring an additional 3,430 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Middlesex Water by 349.4% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 7.0% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Thematics Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 181,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,808,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Middlesex Water Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of MSEX opened at $52.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Middlesex Water has a 1-year low of $45.42 and a 1-year high of $70.73. The stock has a market cap of $939.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.49.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. The company had revenue of $55.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. This is a positive change from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is 59.13%.

Middlesex Water 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.