Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Short Interest Update

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) saw a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 66,600 shares, a drop of 23.5% from the January 15th total of 87,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 37,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Artesian Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Artesian Resources by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 561,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,740,000 after purchasing an additional 5,491 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 276,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,757,000 after acquiring an additional 19,126 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 157,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in Artesian Resources by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,764,000 after acquiring an additional 7,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 110,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

Shares of ARTNA opened at $31.26 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.31 and a 200-day moving average of $34.30. 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 has a twelve month low of $29.45 and a twelve month high of $41.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.98 million, a P/E ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 0.23.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.3014 dividend. This is a boost from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.05%.

About Artesian Resources

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.