Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.34

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th.

Middlesex Water has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Middlesex Water has a payout ratio of 53.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Middlesex Water to earn $2.42 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 56.2%.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

Shares of MSEX traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.47. 43,412 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 119,946. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $55.53 and a 200 day moving average of $61.04. Middlesex Water has a one year low of $45.42 and a one year high of $70.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $900.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.85.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS 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 company had revenue of $55.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $50.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSEX shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company.

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.