Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Short Interest Down 56.0% in March

Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 62,041 shares, a decrease of 56.0% from the March 15th total of 140,879 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 176,888 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Artesian Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARTNA. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Artesian Resources by 985.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 2,463 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Artesian Resources by 10.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 72,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after buying an additional 6,956 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Artesian Resources by 129.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 37,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after buying an additional 21,127 shares during the period. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Artesian Resources during the second quarter valued at $267,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Artesian Resources by 19.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 22,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 3,631 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Stock Down 2.6%

NASDAQ:ARTNA opened at $32.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.20 million, a P/E ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.37. Artesian Resources has a 1-year low of $30.50 and a 1-year high of $36.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $28.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.00 million. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 20.76% and a return on equity of 9.52%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Artesian Resources will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Artesian Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.3136 per share. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ARTNA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Artesian Resources in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Artesian Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Artesian Resources Company Profile

Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTNA) is a publicly traded water and wastewater utility company headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. The company provides regulated water distribution and wastewater collection services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its operating subsidiaries, Artesian is subject to oversight by public utility commissions in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania, ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality water in compliance with state and federal standards.

Traced back to its roots as the Artesian Water Company founded in 1905, the organization has expanded its footprint through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions.