Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $32.34 and traded as high as $32.76. Artesian Resources shares last traded at $32.52, with a volume of 38,967 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Artesian Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Artesian Resources has an average rating of “Hold”.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.34. The company has a market capitalization of $335.61 million, a P/E ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.33.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.09. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 20.86% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $27.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.00 million.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3199 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 15.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 320,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,207,000 after buying an additional 42,000 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in Artesian Resources by 23.4% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 29,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. FCA Corp TX raised its position in Artesian Resources by 6.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Artesian Resources by 30.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 73,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 17,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Artesian Resources in the first quarter worth about $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

About Artesian Resources

Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTNA) is a publicly traded water and wastewater utility company headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. The company provides regulated water distribution and wastewater collection services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its operating subsidiaries, Artesian is subject to oversight by public utility commissions in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania, ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality water in compliance with state and federal standards.

Traced back to its roots as the Artesian Water Company founded in 1905, the organization has expanded its footprint through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions.