York Water Company Announces 3% Increase in Dividend (revised)

The board of directors at The York Water Company (YORW) approved a 3% increase in its quarterly dividend. The revised dividend of 16.02 cents per share will be distributed on Jan 17, 2016, to shareholders of record at the close of business as on Dec 30.

The latest hike marks an increase of 0.42 cents from the last dividend of 15.6 cents. This reflects management's confidence in the company’s financial strength and performance for the long haul. The new annualized dividend amounts to 64.08 cents per share, up from 62.40 cents paid earlier, resulting in a dividend yield of 1.9%.

The York Water Company’s management has been consistently increasing its dividend payout over the last 20 years. Also, the company has been paying quarterly dividends over the last 200 years.

Investment Plans & Buyouts

In the first nine months of 2016, The York Water Company invested $8.3 million in construction expenditures for further upgrades to water treatment facilities and information technology, as well as various replacements of infrastructure and other routine items.

The company plans to invest an additional $4 million in 2016 to maintain proper handling and disposal of wastewater. Moreover, this investment will help improve and expand the company’s service lines, water and wastewater treatment facilities, and untreated water pumping stations.

The ongoing upgrades and replacements will ensure safe, adequate and reliable supply of drinking water.

On Aug 8, 2016, the company signed a contract to purchase the water assets of Stockham’s Village Mobile Home Park in Adams County, Pennsylvania. York Water Company expects to serve approximately 80 new customers through an interconnection with its current distribution system in the first quarter of 2017.

A Similar Move by a Peer

In Nov 2016, the board of directors at Global Water Resources, Inc. (GWRS) approved a 2.3% increase in its annual dividend rate to 27 cents per share from 26.4 cents. The monthly dividend stands at 2.25 cents.

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

The York Water Company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other favorably ranked stocks in the same space are SJW Corp. (SJW) and American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK). While SJW sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), American Water Works has a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

SJW Corp. posted an average positive earnings surprise of 78.5% in the trailing four quarters.

American Water Works has an average positive earnings surprise of 2.1% for the last four quarters.

(We are reissuing this article to correct a mistake. The original article, issued November 23, 2016, should no longer be relied upon.)
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