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

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of 0.34 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%.

Middlesex Water has increased its dividend by an average of 5.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Middlesex Water has a dividend payout ratio of 53.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:MSEX traded up $0.38 on Tuesday, reaching $51.79. The stock had a trading volume of 127,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,212. Middlesex Water has a 12-month low of $45.42 and a 12-month high of $70.73. The stock has a market cap of $924.45 million, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.85. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $56.41 and a 200 day moving average of $61.23.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $55.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company.

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.