Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Shares Sold by First Manhattan CO. LLC.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. trimmed its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 178,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,448 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Middlesex Water were worth $9,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSEX. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Middlesex Water by 349.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 23,262 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the 4th quarter valued at $1,595,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Middlesex Water by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 86,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,560,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Middlesex Water in the fourth quarter valued at $379,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Middlesex Water in the fourth quarter valued at $1,025,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $244,223.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 52,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,129,325.60. This trade represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Baird R W upgraded Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.50.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSEX opened at $60.09 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.61. Middlesex Water has a 52 week low of $48.18 and a 52 week high of $70.73.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $44.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.79 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. Equities analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.43%.

Middlesex Water 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.