Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.30 Per Share

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.3014 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Artesian Resources has increased its dividend by an average of 4.1% per year over the last three years. Artesian Resources has a payout ratio of 57.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Artesian Resources to earn $2.00 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.21 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.5%.

Artesian Resources Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of ARTNA traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 58,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,258. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.19 and its 200 day moving average is $35.06. The stock has a market cap of $325.27 million, a PE ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 0.24. 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 (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $29.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.00 million. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 8.57%. Equities analysts anticipate that Artesian Resources will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.