Legal & General Group Plc Sells 564 Shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 172,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 564 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 1.68% of Artesian Resources worth $5,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Artesian Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $272,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Artesian Resources by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 12,396 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Artesian Resources by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 110,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,104,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 169.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 10,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Artesian Resources Stock Up 1.2 %

ARTNA opened at $34.66 on Monday. Artesian Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $29.45 and a twelve month high of $41.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.77. The stock has a market cap of $357.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $25.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.00 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.3014 dividend. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.61%.

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.