Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Baird R W from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MSEX. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, 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 report on Monday.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

Shares of Middlesex Water stock opened at $58.03 on Monday. Middlesex Water has a 12 month low of $45.42 and a 12 month high of $70.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.18.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $47.11 million during 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 period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Middlesex Water

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSEX. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 771.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Middlesex Water by 1,136.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Middlesex Water by 1,006.4% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water during the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.