Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 99,100 shares, a decline of 5.3% from the May 15th total of 104,600 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 43,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Artesian Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Artesian Resources
Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Artesian Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Artesian Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Ellevest Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 56.3% during the first quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 1,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 347.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Artesian Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $185,000. 49.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Artesian Resources Trading Up 1.0 %
NASDAQ:ARTNA opened at $49.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.50. Artesian Resources has a one year low of $44.97 and a one year high of $63.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.48. The stock has a market cap of $469.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25 and a beta of 0.17.
Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.11). Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 9.24% and a net margin of 17.36%. The business had revenue of $22.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Artesian Resources will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Artesian Resources Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.284 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 18th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.43%.
Artesian Resources Company Profile
Artesian Resources Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of water resource management. Its activities include residential, commercial water and wastewater, government and contract services, and developers. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Newark, DE.
