Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Separately, TheStreet lowered Artesian Resources from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

ARTNA opened at $34.33 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Artesian Resources has a 1 year low of $33.42 and a 1 year high of $57.69. The firm has a market cap of $353.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.18.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.55 million for the quarter. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 16.89%. As a group, analysts predict that Artesian Resources will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artesian Resources

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARTNA. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 109,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,596,000 after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 170.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 257,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,811,000 after purchasing an additional 162,092 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 546,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,962,000 after purchasing an additional 58,055 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Artesian Resources by 11.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 20,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in Artesian Resources by 21.3% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 12,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Artesian Resources Company Profile

Artesian Resources Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides water, wastewater, and other services in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The company distributes and sells water to residential, commercial, industrial, governmental, municipal, and utility customers, as well as for public and private fire protection in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania; and offers wastewater collection, treatment infrastructure, and wastewater services to customers in Delaware.