Foundry Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 150,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,196 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Artesian Resources were worth $4,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Artesian Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $289,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 110,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 169.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 10,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Artesian Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ ARTNA opened at $32.22 on Friday. Artesian Resources Co. has a one year low of $29.45 and a one year high of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.10. The company has a market cap of $331.80 million, a P/E ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.27.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $25.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.00 million. Research analysts anticipate that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.3014 per share. This is a boost from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Artesian Resources’s payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

Artesian Resources 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.