Middlesex Water (MSEX) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 15th

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. 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.

Middlesex Water has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 51 consecutive years. Middlesex Water has a dividend payout ratio of 56.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Middlesex Water to earn $2.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.1%.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

MSEX traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $63.35. 52,041 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 136,084. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75 and a beta of 0.79. Middlesex Water has a fifty-two week low of $45.42 and a fifty-two week high of $73.47.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $49.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.00 million. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 21.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MSEX shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Middlesex Water from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, August 5th. Baird R W lowered shares of Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

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.