Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.34 Per Share

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33.

Middlesex Water has raised its dividend by an average of 6.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 52 consecutive years. Middlesex Water has a dividend payout ratio of 57.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Middlesex Water to earn $2.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.9%.

Middlesex Water Stock Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ:MSEX opened at $67.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13 and a beta of 0.79. Middlesex Water has a 1-year low of $45.42 and a 1-year high of $73.47. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.89.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $55.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSEX. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Baird R W downgraded Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

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.