Middlesex Water (MSEX) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Middlesex Water Company is a regulated water utility that provides water and wastewater services. Its operations include sourcing, treating and distributing water, as well as wastewater collection and treatment.

Founded in 1897, the company serves customers in New Jersey and Delaware through its regulated utility subsidiaries. Its New Jersey operations focus on central New Jersey, while Tidewater Utilities serves communities in Delaware.

Middlesex Water also provides contract operations and maintenance services for municipal and private water and wastewater systems through its subsidiaries. These services include operating and maintaining utility infrastructure on behalf of other organizations.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $57.11 to $57.77
• 50-Day Range: $52.43 to $59.87
• 52-Week Range: $48.19 to $60.72
• Volume: 153,778 shs
• Average Volume: 146,099 shs
• Market Capitalization: $1.10 billion
• P/E Ratio: 20.72
• Dividend Yield: 2.51%
• Price Target: $60.75
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Middlesex Water Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Middlesex Water scored higher than 75% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 51st out of 97 stocks in the utilities sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Middlesex Water has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.50, and is based on 1 strong buy rating, no buy ratings, 3 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for Middlesex Water is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Middlesex Water has only been the subject of 4 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: -0.71%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Middlesex Water are expected to decrease by -0.71% in the coming year, from $2.82 to $2.80 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Middlesex Water is 20.72, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 26.41.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Middlesex Water is 20.72, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 35.13.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Middlesex Water has a P/B Ratio of 2.00. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.57% of the float of Middlesex Water has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Middlesex Water has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.39.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Middlesex Water has recently decreased by 8.25%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Middlesex Water pays a meaningful dividend of 2.48%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Middlesex Water has been increasing its dividend for 52 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Middlesex Water is 51.99%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Middlesex Water will have a dividend payout ratio of 51.43% next year. This indicates that Middlesex Water will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.79

News Sentiment

Middlesex Water has a news sentiment score of 0.79. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.50 average news sentiment score of Utilities companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 5 news articles for Middlesex Water this week, compared to 1 article on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Middlesex Water insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

1.92% of the stock of Middlesex Water is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

79.52% of the stock of Middlesex Water is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Record date for 9/1 Dividend: 8/17/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/1 Dividend: 8/17/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/01/2026
• Last Earnings: 10/29/2026
• Today: 11/13/2026
• Record date for 12/1 Dividend: 11/16/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 12/1 Dividend: 11/16/2026
• Dividend Payable: 12/01/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Utilities
• Industry: Water Utilities
• Sub-Industry: Water Utilities
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:MSEX
• CIK: 66004
• Web: www.middlesexwater.com
• Phone: (732) 634-1500
• Fax: 732-638-7515
• Employees: 395
• Year Founded: 1897

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Middlesex Water: $60.75
• High Price Target: $66.00
• Low Price Target: $55.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +5.8%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.50
• Research Coverage: 4 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.77
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 20.72
• Forward P/E Ratio: 20.50
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $42.82 million
• Net Margins: 24.50%
• Pretax Margin: 27.49%
• Return on Equity: 10.08%
• Return on Assets: 3.69%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.72
• Current Ratio: 0.51
• Quick Ratio: 0.42

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $194.69 million
• Price / Sales: 5.64
• Cash Flow: $4.06 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 14.15
• Book Value: $28.63 per share
• Price / Book: 2.00

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 19,130,000
• Free Float: 18,763,000
• Market Cap: $1.10 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.71