Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MSEX. Robert W. Baird upgraded Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

MSEX opened at $63.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.85 and a 200-day moving average of $59.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. 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 quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $47.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Middlesex Water

In other news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $244,223.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 52,112 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,325.60. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middlesex Water

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,471,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,440,000 after purchasing an additional 126,732 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 751.4% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 91,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,817,000 after buying an additional 80,779 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 187.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 92,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,871,000 after purchasing an additional 60,337 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 53,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Middlesex Water in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,619,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.