Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $561,000 Stock Holdings in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 4.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Middlesex Water were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in Middlesex Water by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 56,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,961,000 after acquiring an additional 10,315 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Middlesex Water during the 1st quarter worth about $1,113,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the 1st quarter valued at about $401,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,016,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 219,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,451,000 after acquiring an additional 24,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

Shares of MSEX stock opened at $66.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.07 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.05. Middlesex Water has a 52 week low of $45.42 and a 52 week high of $73.47.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $55.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.00 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSEX. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Baird R W downgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

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.