York Water (NASDAQ:YORW) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

The York Water Company (NASDAQ:YORW)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $34.38 and last traded at $34.33, with a volume of 49668 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YORW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of York Water from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $31.00 price target on York Water in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

York Water Trading Up 1.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $557.34 million, a P/E ratio of 21.33 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.02.

York Water (NASDAQ:YORW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.09. York Water had a net margin of 28.53% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The firm had revenue of $23.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.18 million.

York Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.228 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. York Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other York Water news, CEO Joseph Thomas Hand sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.28, for a total value of $266,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 35,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,050.24. This trade represents a 18.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of York Water during the 2nd quarter worth $39,283,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in York Water by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 393,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,524,000 after acquiring an additional 13,660 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in York Water by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 335,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,742,000 after acquiring an additional 7,196 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in York Water by 36.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 326,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,949,000 after purchasing an additional 86,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in York Water by 80.8% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 204,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,213,000 after purchasing an additional 91,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.86% of the company’s stock.

About York Water

York Water Company (NASDAQ: YORW) is an investor-owned regulated water utility headquartered in York, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1816, it is the oldest publicly traded water utility in the United States. The company’s principal operations involve the collection, treatment and distribution of potable water to residential, commercial and industrial customers under rate schedules approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

York Water Company’s service territory covers portions of south-central Pennsylvania, including York County and neighboring Adams and Franklin counties.