Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Shares Bought by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX - Free Report) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,471,404 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 126,732 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 8.24% of Middlesex Water worth $77,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 771.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 497 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Middlesex Water by 1,136.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Middlesex Water by 1,006.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 520 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,009 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on MSEX shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Middlesex Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Middlesex Water from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Baird R W raised shares of Middlesex Water from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.50.

Insider Activity

In other Middlesex Water news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 52,112 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,325.60. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.86% of the company's stock.

Middlesex Water Trading Down 0.8 %

MSEX traded down $0.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $62.62. 34,998 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 131,345. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Middlesex Water has a 1 year low of $48.18 and a 1 year high of $70.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.80.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $47.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.00 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Middlesex Water's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.06%.

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.