Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Short Interest Up 30.6% in March

Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 140,879 shares, an increase of 30.6% from the February 26th total of 107,897 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 56,099 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artesian Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 514,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,767,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Artesian Resources by 344,107.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 326,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,336,000 after purchasing an additional 326,902 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Artesian Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,034,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 142,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,767,000 after buying an additional 17,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its position in Artesian Resources by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 137,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,341,000 after buying an additional 19,342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Artesian Resources Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARTNA opened at $32.06 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.00 and its 200-day moving average is $32.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.64. Artesian Resources has a 52 week low of $30.50 and a 52 week high of $36.19. The company has a market capitalization of $330.86 million, a PE ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 0.36.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $28.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.00 million. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 20.76% and a return on equity of 9.52%. Equities research analysts predict that Artesian Resources will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artesian Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.3136 dividend. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Artesian Resources’s payout ratio is currently 56.31%.

About Artesian Resources

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.