Artesian Resources (ARTNA) Competitors

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) and York Water (NASDAQ:YORW) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Does the media refer more to ARTNA or YORW?

In the previous week, York Water had 3 more articles in the media than Artesian Resources. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for York Water and 1 mentions for Artesian Resources. Artesian Resources' average media sentiment score of 1.78 beat York Water's score of 0.47 indicating that Artesian Resources is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Artesian Resources	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
York Water	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has better earnings & valuation, ARTNA or YORW?

Artesian Resources has higher revenue and earnings than York Water. Artesian Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than York Water, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Artesian Resources	$110.43M	3.16	$20.39M	$2.17	15.59
York Water	$74.96M	6.11	$20.33M	$1.37	23.17

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of ARTNA or YORW?

57.4% of Artesian Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.9% of York Water shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.6% of Artesian Resources shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of York Water shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ARTNA or YORW more profitable?

York Water has a net margin of 25.83% compared to Artesian Resources' net margin of 20.84%. Artesian Resources' return on equity of 9.55% beat York Water's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Artesian Resources	20.84%	9.55%	2.86%
York Water	25.83%	8.50%	3.09%

Which has more risk & volatility, ARTNA or YORW?

Artesian Resources has a beta of 0.34, meaning that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, York Water has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ARTNA or YORW a better dividend stock?

Artesian Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. York Water pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Artesian Resources pays out 56.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. York Water pays out 64.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Artesian Resources has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and York Water has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years. Artesian Resources is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Artesian Resources beats York Water on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.