Middlesex Water Company (MSEX) vs Pure Cycle Corporation (PCYO)

Middlesex Water Company and Pure Cycle Corporation are both Utilities Regulated Water companies. Middlesex Water Company is the larger, with a market value of $997.0M against $261.9M — 3.8× the size. Pure Cycle Corporation trades at the lower P/E: 17.8× against 20.6×. Pure Cycle Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 22.9% against 5.26%. Pure Cycle Corporation has the higher net margin (43.7% vs 23.2%) and the higher return on invested capital (5.05% vs 4.08%). Across the 21 metrics below, Pure Cycle Corporation leads on 16 and Middlesex Water Company on 5.

Valuation

Metric MSEX PCYO Utilities Regulated Water median
P/E 20.57 17.82 20.64
P/S 4.83 7.77 4.37
P/B 1.91 1.73 1.91
Price to free cash flow n/m 65.08 —
EV/EBITDA 15.13 17.76 14.48
EV/Sales 6.78 7.94 6.20
Earnings yield 4.86% 5.61% 4.83%
Free cash flow yield (4.07%) 1.54% (4.54%)

Profitability

Metric MSEX PCYO Utilities Regulated Water median
Gross margin 100.00% 61.97% 71.91%
Operating margin 29.22% 37.67% 29.22%
Net margin 23.22% 43.66% 20.19%
Free cash flow margin (19.67%) 11.94% (19.49%)
Return on equity 9.78% 10.22% 9.00%
Return on assets 3.50% 8.99% 3.21%
Return on invested capital 4.08% 5.05% 4.08%

Growth

Metric MSEX PCYO Utilities Regulated Water median
Revenue growth (TTM) 5.26% 22.88% 6.92%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) (4.45%) 12.50% —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 6.58% 0.18% 7.24%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 2.22% 14.20% 9.40%

Health

Metric MSEX PCYO Utilities Regulated Water median
Debt to equity 0.77 0.09 0.93
Current ratio 0.50 1.53 1.01
Net debt to EBITDA 4.42 (1.52) 4.42

Dividend

Metric MSEX PCYO Utilities Regulated Water median
Dividend yield 2.25% — 2.27%
Payout ratio 0.59 0.00 0.55

Size

Metric MSEX PCYO Utilities Regulated Water median
Market cap 997.03m 261.94m 997.03m

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