Middlesex Water (MSEX) Competitors

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

Do insiders and institutionals believe in ARTNA or MSEX?

57.4% of Artesian Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.5% of Middlesex Water shares are held by institutional investors. 20.6% of Artesian Resources shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Middlesex Water shares are held 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.

Do analysts rate ARTNA or MSEX?

Middlesex Water has a consensus target price of $61.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.13%. Given Middlesex Water's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Middlesex Water is more favorable than Artesian Resources.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Artesian Resources	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Middlesex Water	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Is ARTNA or MSEX more profitable?

Middlesex Water has a net margin of 22.15% compared to Artesian Resources' net margin of 20.84%. Middlesex Water's return on equity of 9.67% beat Artesian Resources' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Artesian Resources	20.84%	9.55%	2.86%
Middlesex Water	22.15%	9.67%	3.42%

Does the media prefer ARTNA or MSEX?

In the previous week, Middlesex Water had 1 more articles in the media than Artesian Resources. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Middlesex Water and 6 mentions for Artesian Resources. Middlesex Water's average media sentiment score of 1.79 beat Artesian Resources' score of 1.53 indicating that Middlesex Water is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Artesian Resources	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Middlesex Water	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, ARTNA or MSEX?

Artesian Resources has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Middlesex Water has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ARTNA or MSEX a better dividend stock?

Artesian Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Middlesex Water pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Artesian Resources pays out 56.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Middlesex Water pays out 56.2% 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 increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Middlesex Water has increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, ARTNA or MSEX?

Middlesex Water has higher revenue and earnings than Artesian Resources. Artesian Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Middlesex 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	$107.95M	3.15	$20.39M	$2.17	15.20
Middlesex Water	$191.88M	5.06	$44.35M	$2.42	22.28

Summary

Middlesex Water beats Artesian Resources on 18 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.