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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Artesian Resources during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in Artesian Resources during the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Artesian Resources in the third quarter worth about $289,000. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Artesian Resources Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ARTNA traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.59. The stock had a trading volume of 4,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,797. The firm has a market cap of $345.91 million, a PE ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 0.22. Artesian Resources has a 1 year low of $32.93 and a 1 year high of $43.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $34.57 and its 200 day moving average is $36.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

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

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.