First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 8,448 Shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. reduced its stake in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 178,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,448 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned 1.00% of Middlesex Water worth $9,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Middlesex Water by 349.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 23,262 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 86,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,560,000 after acquiring an additional 2,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 214,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,311,000 after acquiring an additional 6,983 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Middlesex Water Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:MSEX opened at $60.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.88 and a 200 day moving average of $58.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Middlesex Water has a 52 week low of $48.18 and a 52 week high of $70.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.88.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted 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). Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. The business had revenue of $44.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.79 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of Middlesex Water stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total transaction of $244,223.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 52,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,129,325.60. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.