Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.34

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, Zacks reports. Investors 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 is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33.

Middlesex Water has raised its dividend by an average of 6.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 51 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 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $63.35. The company had a trading volume of 52,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 136,084. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Middlesex Water has a 1 year low of $45.42 and a 1 year high of $73.47. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75 and a beta of 0.79.

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 the consensus estimate of $47.00 million. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 21.14%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSEX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W lowered Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird cut Middlesex Water from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

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.