Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Purchases New Shares in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSEX. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water in the first quarter worth approximately $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 107.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 65.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the third quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the third quarter worth about $230,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSEX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Baird R W lowered Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

Middlesex Water stock opened at $68.62 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.31. Middlesex Water has a 12-month low of $45.42 and a 12-month high of $73.47.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $55.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.00 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.52%.

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.