Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $33.41 and traded as high as $34.07. Artesian Resources shares last traded at $33.62, with a volume of 32,044 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded Artesian Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $347.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $30.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.80 million. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 20.18% and a return on equity of 9.37%.

Artesian Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.3199 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.90%.

Institutional Trading of Artesian Resources

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARTNA. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Artesian Resources in the second quarter valued at $136,000. Cullen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Artesian Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $394,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 320,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,207,000 after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 29,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, FCA Corp TX boosted its stake in Artesian Resources by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 69,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,221,000 after purchasing an additional 4,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

About Artesian Resources

Artesian Resources Corporation is a regulated water utility holding company headquartered in Newark, Delaware. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides water and wastewater services to residential, commercial, industrial and governmental customers in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Artesian’s principal business is the operation and maintenance of water supply and distribution systems, including the treatment and delivery of potable water. Its subsidiaries also provide wastewater collection and treatment, contract operations, water service management, engineering and other related services.

Founded in 1905, Artesian has expanded from its original Delaware operations to serve communities across the Delmarva Peninsula.