Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes Position in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.11% of Artesian Resources as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Artesian Resources by 2.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 545,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,248,000 after buying an additional 14,668 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Artesian Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $539,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Artesian Resources by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Artesian Resources by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 11,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

ARTNA opened at $34.74 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.52. Artesian Resources Co. has a 52-week low of $32.93 and a 52-week high of $44.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.82 million, a P/E ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 18.96%. The firm had revenue of $29.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.00 million. As a group, analysts predict that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.301 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.05%.

About Artesian Resources

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.