Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Raises Dividend to $0.30 Per Share

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 6th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of 0.296 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

Artesian Resources has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 6 years. Artesian Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 55.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Artesian Resources to earn $2.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.2%.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARTNA traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.18. 2,836 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,639. The company has a market cap of $392.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 0.20. Artesian Resources has a 1 year low of $33.42 and a 1 year high of $55.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $24.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.00 million. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 16.89%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Artesian Resources will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ARTNA shares. TheStreet downgraded Artesian Resources from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Artesian Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

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.