Middlesex Water (MSEX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.34 on December 2nd

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given 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 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33.

Middlesex Water has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 52 consecutive years. Middlesex Water has a payout ratio of 57.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Middlesex Water to earn $2.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.9%.

Middlesex Water Trading Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ:MSEX opened at $67.00 on Wednesday. Middlesex Water has a 12-month low of $45.42 and a 12-month high of $73.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.89.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. The business had revenue of $55.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Baird R W lowered Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

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.