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

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Get Free Report) 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 short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

NASDAQ ARTNA traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $31.29. 4,413 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,615. 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.17. The stock has a market cap of $322.29 million, a PE ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 0.23.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.3014 per share. This is a boost from Artesian Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Artesian Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. FCA Corp TX grew 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 worth $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew 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 worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 157,351 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew 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 worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.