Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Given Neutral Rating at Janney Montgomery Scott

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Janney Montgomery Scott in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Baird R W raised Middlesex Water from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Middlesex Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Middlesex Water from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.50.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSEX traded up $0.90 on Friday, hitting $61.77. 47,641 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 130,700. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $56.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.97. Middlesex Water has a fifty-two week low of $45.42 and a fifty-two week high of $70.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $47.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.00 million. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Middlesex Water

In other news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $244,223.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 52,112 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,325.60. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSEX. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 771.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 497 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 1,006.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 520 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,009 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.