Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Short Interest Up 21.6% in February

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 87,900 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the February 13th total of 72,300 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 40,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Artesian Resources Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Artesian Resources stock traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.71. The stock had a trading volume of 203,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,563. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.46. Artesian Resources has a 12-month low of $29.45 and a 12-month high of $41.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $316.25 million, a P/E ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 0.19.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.3014 dividend. This is a boost from Artesian Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Artesian Resources's dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Artesian Resources

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. FCA Corp TX lifted its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 77,976 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 6,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 100.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Artesian Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

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.