Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Shares Down 4.7% – What’s Next?

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)’s stock price dropped 4.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $48.69 and last traded at $48.74. Approximately 28,932 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 118,403 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Middlesex Water Trading Down 1.0 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.20. The company has a market capitalization of $868.94 million, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middlesex Water

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSEX. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Middlesex Water during the second quarter worth approximately $2,016,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 23,262 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Middlesex Water by 7.0% in 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 in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,392,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.