Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,391,501 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 29,238 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 7.80% of Middlesex Water worth $73,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSEX. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Middlesex Water by 1,136.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Middlesex Water by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water during the 4th quarter worth $379,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 8,313 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Middlesex Water news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $244,223.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 52,112 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,129,325.60. This trade represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSEX. Baird R W upgraded Middlesex Water from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Middlesex Water from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Middlesex Water from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Middlesex Water currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Middlesex Water Stock Down 0.1 %

MSEX traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $62.82. 5,752 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 131,063. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $58.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.80. Middlesex Water has a fifty-two week low of $45.42 and a fifty-two week high of $70.73.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $47.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $45.00 million. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Middlesex Water's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.06%.

Middlesex Water 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.