Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Price Target Raised to $61.00 at Robert W. Baird

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 6.54% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Baird R W downgraded Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Middlesex Water Stock Up 6.7 %

MSEX stock opened at $65.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38 and a beta of 0.79. Middlesex Water has a 52 week low of $45.42 and a 52 week high of $73.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $49.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.00 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.66%. On average, analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSEX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,427,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,650,000 after acquiring an additional 20,712 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 12.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 219,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,451,000 after purchasing an additional 24,400 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 150,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,918,000 after purchasing an additional 31,607 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Middlesex Water by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,889,000 after purchasing an additional 35,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Middlesex Water by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 62,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,243,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.