Head-To-Head Analysis: Artesian Resources Co. Class A (ARTNA) versus Pure Cycle (PCYO)

Artesian Resources Co. Class A (NASDAQ: ARTNA) and Pure Cycle (NASDAQ:PCYO) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

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Artesian Resources Co. Class A has a beta of 0.11, indicating that its stock price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pure Cycle has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Artesian Resources Co. Class A and Pure Cycle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Artesian Resources Co. Class A	17.54%	10.49%	3.15%
Pure Cycle	-40.01%	-1.53%	-1.50%

Dividends

Artesian Resources Co. Class A pays an annual dividend of $0.95 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Pure Cycle does not pay a dividend. Artesian Resources Co. Class A pays out 41.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Artesian Resources Co. Class A and Pure Cycle, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Artesian Resources Co. Class A	0	0	0	0	N/A
Pure Cycle	0	0	0	0	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

38.5% of Artesian Resources Co. Class A shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.3% of Pure Cycle shares are held by institutional investors. 20.6% of Artesian Resources Co. Class A shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Pure Cycle shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Artesian Resources Co. Class A and Pure Cycle’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Artesian Resources Co. Class A	$82.24 million	4.30	$13.98 million	$2.30	16.66
Pure Cycle	$1.22 million	192.81	-$1.71 million	N/A	N/A

Artesian Resources Co. Class A has higher revenue and earnings than Pure Cycle.

Summary

Artesian Resources Co. Class A beats Pure Cycle on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Artesian Resources Co. Class A

Artesian Resources Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides water, wastewater, and other services on the Delmarva Peninsula. The company distributes and sells water to residential, commercial, industrial, governmental, municipal, and utility customers, as well as for public and private fire protection in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania; and offers wastewater services to customers in Delaware. It also provides contract water and wastewater services; water, sewer, and internal service line protection plans; and wastewater management services, as well as design, construction, and engineering services. In addition, the company offers services to other water utilities, including operations and billing functions; and owns real estate properties, including land for office buildings, a water treatment plant, and wastewater facility. As of December 31, 2017, it served approximately 84,200 metered water customers in Delaware, 2,300 metered water customers in Maryland, and 40 customers in Pennsylvania through 1,293 miles of transmission and distribution mains. Artesian Resources Corporation was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.

About Pure Cycle

Pure Cycle Corporation designs, constructs, operates, and maintains water and wastewater systems in the Denver metropolitan area and Colorado Front Range in the United States. It provides water production, storage, treatment, retail distribution systems bulk transmission, wastewater collection and treatment, irrigation water treatment and transmission, construction management, billing and collection, and emergency response services. The company offers its services to wholesale customers, which include commercial and industrial customers, and local governmental entities that provide water and wastewater services to their end-use customers. It also leases its farms. The company was founded in 1976 and is based in Watkins, Colorado.