Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 66,600 shares, a drop of 23.5% from the January 15th total of 87,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 37,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Artesian Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 26.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Artesian Resources in the third quarter valued at $336,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in Artesian Resources in the third quarter valued at $217,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 7.1% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 6,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC lifted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 157,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARTNA traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.26. The stock had a trading volume of 19,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,483. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.98 million, a PE ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 0.23. Artesian Resources has a 12 month low of $29.45 and a 12 month high of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.3014 per share. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Artesian Resources’s payout ratio 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.