Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $32.51 and traded as high as $33.00. Artesian Resources shares last traded at $32.58, with a volume of 35,683 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Artesian Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Artesian Resources in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Artesian Resources Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.69 and a 200 day moving average of $32.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 0.37.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.03. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 20.76%.The firm had revenue of $28.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.00 million.

Artesian Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.3136 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Artesian Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new position in Artesian Resources during the third quarter worth about $1,021,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 93.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 117,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,830,000 after buying an additional 56,890 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Artesian Resources during the third quarter worth about $485,000. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 137,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,341,000 after buying an additional 19,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 61,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,929,000 after buying an additional 6,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Company Profile

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.