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Reasons to Add Middlesex Water (MSEX) to Your Portfolio Now

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Middlesex Water Company’s (MSEX - Free Report) steady capital investment, customer additions and organic growth are boosting its performance. In addition, its positive trend in earnings estimate revisions makes it a strong candidate for your portfolio.

Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock a strong investment pick at the moment. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Growth Projections

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 and 2023 earnings per share is pegged at $2.65 and $2.85, respectively. The 2022 and 2023 earnings estimates have moved by 7.7% and 6.3%, respectively, in the past 60 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 and 2023 revenues is pegged at $159 million and $167 million, respectively. The 2022 and 2023 revenues estimates indicate year-over-year growth of 11.1% and 5%, respectively.

Dividend History

Middlesex Water has a long history of dividend payments and continues to enhance shareholders’ value through the same.

Courtesy of its steady performance, management has been paying cash dividends in varying amounts continually since 1912. Its dividend yield is currently pegged at 1.1%.

Regular Investments

Middlesex Water makes consistent investments to upgrade and maintain the existing infrastructure for providing 24x7 reliable services to the expanding customer base. Middlesex Water plans to invest $229 million during the 2022-2024 period to strengthen its water and wastewater infrastructure to provide services to customers in a safe, reliable and efficient manner.

Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE is a measure of a company’s financial performance and shows how it is utilizing its funds. Middlesex Water’s ROE (TTM) is currently pegged at 10.19%, better than the industry average of 9.54%, which indicates that the company is utilizing its funds more efficiently than peers.

Price Performance

Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 30% compared with the industry’s growth of 14.5%.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Other Stocks to Consider

Other top-ranked stocks in the same sector include Ameren Corporation (AEE - Free Report) , Consolidated Edison (ED - Free Report) and WEC Energy Group (WEC - Free Report) , each currently holding a Zacks Rank #2.

Long-term (three to five years) earnings growth of Ameren, Consolidated Edison, and WEC Energy is currently pegged at 7.2%, 2%, and 6%, respectively.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings per share of Ameren, Consolidated Edison and WEC Energy has moved up 0.5%, 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, in the past 60 days.

The current dividend yield of Ameren, Consolidated Edison and WEC Energy is pegged at 2.4%, 3.2% and 2.8%, respectively, better than the Zacks S&P 500 composite yield of 1.5%.

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