Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,156 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Middlesex Water were worth $525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 2,666.7% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Middlesex Water from $69.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James F. Jr. Cosgrove purchased 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $51.70 per share, with a total value of $82,720.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,342 shares in the company, valued at $482,981.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.86% of the company’s stock.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSEX opened at $46.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $830.66 million, a PE ratio of 26.50 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.31 and its 200 day moving average is $59.52. Middlesex Water has a 52 week low of $45.42 and a 52 week high of $84.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $38.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.00 million. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 7.61% and a net margin of 18.96%. Research analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.86%.

Middlesex Water Company Profile

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.