Middlesex Water Co key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Middlesex Water Co had return on equity of 9.1%, an operating margin of 27.9%, debt equal to 84.0% of equity and a current ratio of 0.45. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2009Dec 2009 | 2010Dec 2010 | 2011Dec 2011 | 2012Dec 2012 | 2013Dec 2013 | 2014Dec 2014 | 2015Dec 2015 | 2016Dec 2016 | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMSept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 22.1% | 25.9% | 23.7% | 25.0% | 27.0% | 29.4% | 28.4% | 30.3% | 28.9% | 26.9% | 26.4% | 26.4% | 23.2% | 29.1% | 23.6% | 27.7% | 27.9% | 30.5% |
| Net margin | 10.9% | 13.9% | 13.2% | 13.0% | 14.5% | 15.7% | 15.9% | 17.1% | 17.4% | 23.5% | 25.2% | 27.1% | 25.5% | 26.1% | 19.0% | 23.1% | 22.0% | 24.5% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | −36.9% | −32.4% | −18.5% | −22.5% | −8.3% | 32.2% | 32.7% |
| Return on equity | 7.1% | 6.4% | 4.3% | 4.6% | 5.2% | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11.1% | 10.2% | 11.0% | 7.7% | 10.2% | 9.1% | 10.0% |
| Return on assets | — | 2.9% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 3.0% | 3.3% | 3.5% | 3.8% | 3.6% | 4.5% | 4.0% | 4.1% | 3.7% | 4.1% | 2.7% | 3.6% | 3.3% | 3.7% |
| Asset turnover | — | 0.21 | 0.20 | 0.20 | 0.21 | 0.21 | 0.22 | 0.22 | 0.20 | 0.19 | 0.16 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 0.16 | 0.14 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.15 |
| Current ratio | — | 0.56 | 0.49 | 0.44 | 0.49 | 0.52 | 0.86 | 0.57 | 0.45 | 0.33 | 0.45 | 0.60 | 0.61 | 0.32 | 1.05 | 0.52 | 0.45 | 0.51 |
| Debt to equity | 0.0% | 50.0% | 51.5% | 53.9% | 50.9% | — | — | — | — | — | — | 81.6% | 88.7% | 111.8% | 119.3% | 112.4% | 84.0% | 73.0% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | 3.0x | 3.8x | 3.8x | 4.1x | 5.3x | 6.1x | 6.5x | 7.6x | 6.9x | 5.5x | 4.9x | 5.0x | 4.1x | 5.1x | 3.0x | 3.8x | 3.8x | 4.3x |
| Effective tax rate | 34.1% | 32.1% | 32.7% | 33.9% | 34.1% | 35.0% | 34.5% | 34.0% | 32.7% | 2.8% | −10.2% | −12.0% | −17.7% | 7.1% | 3.2% | 13.5% | 10.1% | 10.9% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 74.6% | 55.5% | 56.2% | 54.2% | 38.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | −136.0% | −126.8% | −70.6% | −118.6% | −35.8% | 146.2% | 133.6% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | 2.1% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 71.8% | 66.3% | 62.7% | 57.8% | 61.4% | 46.0% | 47.7% | 47.3% | 53.0% | 49.0% | 71.2% | 52.8% | 58.2% | 51.6% |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 39.8% | 38.6% |
| Quarter | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 | 2026 Q3Sept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 22.4% | 26.1% | 28.2% | 32.7% | 23.9% | 26.9% | 32.3% | 37.0% |
| Net margin | 18.7% | 21.4% | 21.9% | 25.8% | 18.3% | 21.8% | 26.2% | 29.9% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | −8.0% | — | 37.1% | 22.3% | 39.3% | 24.1% | 29.1% | 38.0% |
| Current ratio | 0.52 | 0.46 | 0.41 | 0.42 | 0.45 | 0.39 | 0.50 | 0.51 |
| Debt to equity | 81.0% | 157.9% | 154.8% | 74.1% | 78.3% | 75.7% | 77.4% | 73.0% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $55m of assets due within a year against $109m of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
- More cash than debt $2m of cash against $400m of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 73% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 81% to 73% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $69m of operating cash flow against $400m of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $65m against $15m of interest.
Moat
Moderate moat
How hard Middlesex Water's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 3 / 20
Net income has been a median 3.6% of total assets over 10 years.
- Durability 19 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 27.7%; its worst year was 23.5%.
- Cash conversion 3 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 2 of 6 years, at a median -12.6% of revenue.
- Discipline 12 / 20
The diluted share count rose 14.7% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.8% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.
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