York Water (YORW) Competitors

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

Is YORW or ARTNA more profitable?

York Water has a net margin of 25.91% compared to Artesian Resources' net margin of 19.60%. Artesian Resources' return on equity of 8.98% beat York Water's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
York Water	25.91%	8.56%	3.13%
Artesian Resources	19.60%	8.98%	2.69%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in YORW or ARTNA?

49.9% of York Water shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.4% of Artesian Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of York Water shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.6% of Artesian Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, YORW or ARTNA?

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
York Water	$74.96M	5.85	$20.33M	$1.37	22.23
Artesian Resources	$107.95M	3.13	$20.39M	$2.08	15.78

Does the media favor YORW or ARTNA?

In the previous week, York Water had 2 more articles in the media than Artesian Resources. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for York Water and 2 mentions for Artesian Resources. York Water's average media sentiment score of 0.81 beat Artesian Resources' score of 0.00 indicating that York Water is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
York Water	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Artesian Resources	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more risk and volatility, YORW or ARTNA?

York Water has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Artesian Resources has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is YORW or ARTNA a better dividend stock?

York Water pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Artesian Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. York Water pays out 64.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Artesian Resources pays out 59.1% 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 Artesian Resources has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Artesian Resources is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

York Water and Artesian Resources tied by winning 8 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.