Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Trading Down 3.2%

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)’s share price fell 3.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $63.40 and last traded at $63.52. 17,426 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 123,072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MSEX. StockNews.com began coverage on Middlesex Water in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. TheStreet cut Middlesex Water from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, October 20th.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.38 and a 200-day moving average of $74.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a boost from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middlesex Water

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 23.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,174,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,026,000 after buying an additional 610,226 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 7.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,986,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,339,000 after purchasing an additional 137,713 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 2.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,399,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,016,000 after purchasing an additional 37,115 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 2.6% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 757,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,187,000 after purchasing an additional 19,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 467,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,721 shares in the last quarter. 70.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Middlesex Water

Middlesex Water Company owns and operates regulated water utility and wastewater systems. It operates in two segments, Regulated and Non-Regulated. 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.