Artesian Resources' (ARTNA) Hold (C-) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Artesian Resources' stock has had its "hold (C-)" rating reaffirmed by Weiss Ratings, indicating cautious sentiment among analysts.
• The company's stock price decreased by 0.1% recently, trading at $32.76, with a market cap of $337.76 million and a P/E ratio of 15.10.
• In recent trading activity, SVP John M. Thaeder sold 1,000 shares, representing a 4.63% decrease in his ownership position, while 20.59% of shares are owned by corporate insiders.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c-)" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a report released on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Artesian Resources Stock Down 0.1%

ARTNA stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.76. 10,286 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,727. The firm has a market cap of $337.76 million, a P/E ratio of 15.10 and a beta of 0.34. Artesian Resources has a 1-year low of $29.45 and a 1-year high of $36.67. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $32.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.05. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 9.55%. The firm had revenue of $28.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Artesian Resources will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artesian Resources

In other news, SVP John M. Thaeder sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.37, for a total transaction of $33,370.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 20,592 shares in the company, valued at $687,155.04. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 20.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARTNA. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,632 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 38,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 9,634 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 30,432 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Artesian Resources by 4,084.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.37% of the company's stock.

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.

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