Creative Planning Increases Stock Holdings in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

Creative Planning grew its position in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 26.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning owned 0.08% of Artesian Resources worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARTNA. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Artesian Resources in the second quarter valued at $6,220,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,856,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Artesian Resources by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 216,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,043,000 after purchasing an additional 39,234 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,032,000. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $539,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Trading Down 0.8 %

Artesian Resources stock opened at $35.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $369.36 million, a PE ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.72. Artesian Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $32.93 and a 52 week high of $44.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $29.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.00 million. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 18.96%. Equities research analysts predict that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.301 per share. This is a positive change from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 60.51%.

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.