MSEX vs. YORW, AWK, AWR, CWT, WTRG, SJW, CWCO, ARTNA, CDZI, and GWRS
Should you be buying Middlesex Water stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Middlesex Water include York Water (YORW), American Water Works (AWK), American States Water (AWR), California Water Service Group (CWT), Essential Utilities (WTRG), SJW Group (SJW), Consolidated Water (CWCO), Artesian Resources (ARTNA), Cadiz (CDZI), and Global Water Resources (GWRS).
Middlesex Water vs. Its Competitors
York Water (NASDAQ:YORW) and Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, media sentiment, profitability, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.
York Water has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Middlesex Water has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Middlesex Water has higher revenue and earnings than York Water. Middlesex Water is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than York Water, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Middlesex Water has a consensus price target of $61.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.58%. Given Middlesex Water's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Middlesex Water is more favorable than York Water.
York Water pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Middlesex Water pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. York Water pays out 64.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Middlesex Water pays out 56.4% 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. York Water has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years and Middlesex Water has raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years.
49.9% of York Water shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.5% of Middlesex Water shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of York Water shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Middlesex Water shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
York Water has a net margin of 25.91% compared to Middlesex Water's net margin of 22.05%. Middlesex Water's return on equity of 9.76% beat York Water's return on equity.
In the previous week, York Water had 1 more articles in the media than Middlesex Water. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for York Water and 1 mentions for Middlesex Water. Middlesex Water's average media sentiment score of 1.87 beat York Water's score of 0.81 indicating that Middlesex Water is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Summary
Middlesex Water beats York Water on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding MSEX and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NASDAQ:MSEX) was last updated on 7/13/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff