Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTNA) and SJW Corporation (NYSE:SJW) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and dividends.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Artesian Resources Corporation and SJW Corporation’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Artesian Resources Corporation | $80.94 million | 4.12 | $36.76 million | $1.47 | 24.67 |
| SJW Corporation | $362.77 million | 3.04 | $142.70 million | $2.67 | 20.16 |
SJW Corporation has higher revenue and earnings than Artesian Resources Corporation. SJW Corporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Artesian Resources Corporation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Artesian Resources Corporation has a beta of 0.1, suggesting that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SJW Corporation has a beta of 0.18, suggesting that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Artesian Resources Corporation pays an annual dividend of $0.93 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. SJW Corporation pays an annual dividend of $0.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Artesian Resources Corporation pays out 63.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SJW Corporation pays out 32.6% 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 Corporation has raised its dividend for 49 consecutive years. Artesian Resources Corporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Artesian Resources Corporation and SJW Corporation, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Artesian Resources Corporation | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| SJW Corporation | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Artesian Resources Corporation presently has a consensus target price of $41.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.04%. Given Artesian Resources Corporation’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Artesian Resources Corporation is more favorable than SJW Corporation.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
39.9% of Artesian Resources Corporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.3% of SJW Corporation shares are held by institutional investors. 20.6% of Artesian Resources Corporation shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.1% of SJW Corporation shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Artesian Resources Corporation and SJW Corporation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Artesian Resources Corporation | 16.58% | 9.62% | 2.94% |
| SJW Corporation | 15.17% | 11.96% | 3.48% |
Summary
SJW Corporation beats Artesian Resources Corporation on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
Artesian Resources Corporation Company Profile
Artesian Resources Corporation is a holding company. The Company’s subsidiaries offer water, wastewater and other services on the Delmarva Peninsula. The Company distributes and sells water, including water for public and private fire protection, to residential, commercial, industrial, municipal and utility customers in the states of Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Company also provides wastewater services to customers in Delaware. In addition, the Company provides contract water and wastewater operations, and water, sewer and internal Service Line Protection Plans. As of December 31, 2016, the Company was the holding company of five regulated public utilities: Artesian Water Company, Inc., Artesian Water Pennsylvania, Inc., Artesian Water Maryland, Inc., Artesian Wastewater Management, Inc. and Artesian Wastewater Maryland, Inc., and three non-regulated subsidiaries: Artesian Utility Development, Inc., Artesian Development Corporation and Artesian Consulting Engineers, Inc.
SJW Corporation Company Profile
SJW Group, formerly SJW Corp., is a holding company. The Company’s subsidiaries include San Jose Water Company, SJWTX, Inc., SJW Land Company and Texas Water Alliance Limited (TWA). SJWTX, Inc. is doing business as Canyon Lake Water Service Company (CLWSC). It operates through the segments, which include Water Utility Services, Real Estate Services and All Other. Its Water Utility Services segment provides water utility and utility-related services to its customers through its subsidiaries, such as San Jose Water Company, CLWSC and TWA. The Real Estate Services segment includes property management and investment activity conducted by SJW Land Company. The Company’s All Other segment includes its other business activities. San Jose Water Company distributes water to customers in accordance with accepted water utility methods. SJW Land Company owns undeveloped land, and owns and operates a portfolio of commercial buildings in the states of California, Texas, Arizona and Tennessee.
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