Foundry Partners LLC Takes Position in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 46,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,024,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 138,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 106.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 51,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,356,000 after buying an additional 26,415 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 1.0% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 38,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,575,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 11.5% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 32,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after buying an additional 3,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Middlesex Water during the third quarter valued at $2,158,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Middlesex Water from $69.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Insider Activity at Middlesex Water

In other news, Director James F. Jr. Cosgrove acquired 1,600 shares of Middlesex Water stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $51.70 per share, with a total value of $82,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,342 shares in the company, valued at $482,981.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.86% of the company’s stock.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

Shares of MSEX stock opened at $48.02 on Tuesday. Middlesex Water has a 1-year low of $45.42 and a 1-year high of $84.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $855.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.21.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $38.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.00 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 7.61%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Middlesex Water’s payout ratio is 73.86%.

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.