Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Shares Sold by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 53.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,581 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd owned about 0.05% of Artesian Resources worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Artesian Resources by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Artesian Resources by 454.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Artesian Resources by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 20,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in Artesian Resources during the 4th quarter worth $93,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Artesian Resources by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Artesian Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARTNA opened at $35.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $370.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17 and a beta of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Artesian Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.34 and a fifty-two week high of $49.73.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $24.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.00 million. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 7.57%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.296 dividend. This is an increase from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Artesian Resources’s payout ratio is presently 69.41%.

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.