Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Short Interest Down 8.9% in November

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) saw a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 87,300 shares, a drop of 8.9% from the November 15th total of 95,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 29,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Artesian Resources Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Artesian Resources stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,797. Artesian Resources has a 1-year low of $32.93 and a 1-year high of $43.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $345.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 0.22.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 18.96%. The business had revenue of $29.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.00 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Artesian Resources will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.301 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

Institutional Trading of Artesian Resources

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Artesian Resources by 7.1% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 6,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 157,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

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.