7,200 Shares in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Bought by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 1,136.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Middlesex Water by 9.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 8,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water in the 4th quarter worth approximately $522,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Middlesex Water in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Baird R W raised Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Middlesex Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Middlesex Water has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

Shares of MSEX stock opened at $63.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.79. Middlesex Water has a 12 month low of $45.42 and a 12 month high of $70.73.

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

Middlesex Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Middlesex Water news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $244,223.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.