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MSEX vs. SJW: Which Utility Water Supply Stock to Pick Now?
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The coronavirus outbreak has caused a global economic crisis and the situation keeps worsening with each day. Already 42,364 cases of death have been registered in United States. The economy is declining rapidly. Investors are becoming apprehensive about a market meltdown.
Despite the scenario, the Utilities have been providing 24X7 basic services like electricity, water and natural gas to millions of customers. In the current scenario where the novel coronavirus outbreak is affecting human lives, a solid water service provider is a ray of hope. Usage of clean water can prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Moreover, a report from the United States Environmental Protection Agency states that drinking water doesn’t contain COVID-19 virus. Thus, U.S. citizens can continue to use and drink water from their tap as usual. This increases the importance of water as well as demand for safe and reliable water suppliers.
In this article, we run a comparative analysis on two Utility - Water Supply companies — Middlesex Water Company (MSEX - Free Report) and SJW Group (SJW - Free Report) — to ascertain which is a better buying option now.
Middlesex Water has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, while the same for SJW Group is $1.73 billion.
Growth Projections
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Middlesex Water’s 2020 earnings is pegged at $2.04 on revenues of $143.27 million. This implies 1.49% and 6.44% increase of the bottom and the top line, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SJW Group’s 2020 earnings is pegged at $2.31 on revenues of $525.28 million. This implies 29.78% and 24.92% increase of the bottom and the top line, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures.
Long-Term Price Performance
Amid the current scenario, shares of most of the industry players are on a decline. On a long-term basis, both the companies have positive returns. In the last three years, Middlesex Water’s shares have returned 48.3%% compared with the industry's growth of 32.8%. Shares of SJW Group have increased 14.9%.
Surprise Trend
SJW Group has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 11.81%, on average Middlesex Water has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 4.69%, on average.
Return on Equity (ROE)
ROE is a measure of a company’s efficiency in utilizing shareholder’s funds. ROE for the trailing 12 months for Middlesex Water and SJW Group is 12.12% and 5.07%, respectively. Middlesex Water has outperformed the industry’s ROE of 8.49%.
Debt-to-Capital
The debt-to-capital is a good indicator of the financial position of a company. The indicator shows how much debt is used to run the business. Middlesex Water and SJW Group have a debt-to-capital of 41.46% and 59.05%, respectively, compared with the industry’s 46.23%.
Outcome
The aforementioned companies are efficiently providing services to their customers and should be included in your portfolio. However, the above-mentioned comparisons indicate that Middlesex Water is a better utilities stock right now.
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MSEX vs. SJW: Which Utility Water Supply Stock to Pick Now?
The coronavirus outbreak has caused a global economic crisis and the situation keeps worsening with each day. Already 42,364 cases of death have been registered in United States. The economy is declining rapidly. Investors are becoming apprehensive about a market meltdown.
Despite the scenario, the Utilities have been providing 24X7 basic services like electricity, water and natural gas to millions of customers. In the current scenario where the novel coronavirus outbreak is affecting human lives, a solid water service provider is a ray of hope. Usage of clean water can prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Moreover, a report from the United States Environmental Protection Agency states that drinking water doesn’t contain COVID-19 virus. Thus, U.S. citizens can continue to use and drink water from their tap as usual. This increases the importance of water as well as demand for safe and reliable water suppliers.
In this article, we run a comparative analysis on two Utility - Water Supply companies — Middlesex Water Company (MSEX - Free Report) and SJW Group (SJW - Free Report) — to ascertain which is a better buying option now.
Both the stocks currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Middlesex Water has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, while the same for SJW Group is $1.73 billion.
Growth Projections
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Middlesex Water’s 2020 earnings is pegged at $2.04 on revenues of $143.27 million. This implies 1.49% and 6.44% increase of the bottom and the top line, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SJW Group’s 2020 earnings is pegged at $2.31 on revenues of $525.28 million. This implies 29.78% and 24.92% increase of the bottom and the top line, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures.
Long-Term Price Performance
Amid the current scenario, shares of most of the industry players are on a decline. On a long-term basis, both the companies have positive returns. In the last three years, Middlesex Water’s shares have returned 48.3%% compared with the industry's growth of 32.8%. Shares of SJW Group have increased 14.9%.
Surprise Trend
SJW Group has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 11.81%, on average Middlesex Water has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 4.69%, on average.
Return on Equity (ROE)
ROE is a measure of a company’s efficiency in utilizing shareholder’s funds. ROE for the trailing 12 months for Middlesex Water and SJW Group is 12.12% and 5.07%, respectively. Middlesex Water has outperformed the industry’s ROE of 8.49%.
Debt-to-Capital
The debt-to-capital is a good indicator of the financial position of a company. The indicator shows how much debt is used to run the business. Middlesex Water and SJW Group have a debt-to-capital of 41.46% and 59.05%, respectively, compared with the industry’s 46.23%.
Outcome
The aforementioned companies are efficiently providing services to their customers and should be included in your portfolio. However, the above-mentioned comparisons indicate that Middlesex Water is a better utilities stock right now.
Today's Best Stocks from Zacks
Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2019, while the S&P 500 gained and impressive +53.6%, five of our strategies returned +65.8%, +97.1%, +118.0%, +175.7% and even +186.7%.
This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2019, while the S&P averaged +6.0% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +54.7% per year.
See their latest picks free >>