Walleye Capital LLC Takes $675,000 Position in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 12,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $675,000. Walleye Capital LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Middlesex Water as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSEX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Baird R W raised shares of Middlesex Water from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Middlesex Water from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middlesex Water has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $244,223.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 52,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,129,325.60. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

Shares of Middlesex Water stock opened at $63.26 on Wednesday. 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 $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.84. Middlesex Water has a fifty-two week low of $47.58 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The business had revenue of $47.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $45.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Middlesex Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Middlesex Water's payout ratio is 55.06%.

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.

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