Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Short Interest Update

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 87,900 shares, a growth of 21.6% from the February 13th total of 72,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 40,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Artesian Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARTNA opened at $32.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $331.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 0.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.55. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $29.45 and a fifty-two week high of $41.29.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.3014 per share. This is an increase from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

Institutional Trading of Artesian Resources

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Artesian Resources by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. FCA Corp TX raised its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 77,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 100.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Artesian Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.