Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Artesian Resources Corporation experienced a 22.5% drop in short interest in August, with total short interest falling from 73,400 shares to 56,900 shares.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting an EPS of $0.61 against a consensus estimate of $0.56.
• Artesian Resources declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3074, yielding an annualized dividend of $1.23 with a payout ratio of 56.68%.

Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 56,900 shares, a decrease of 22.5% from the July 31st total of 73,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 28,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 28,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artesian Resources

In other news, SVP John M. Thaeder sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.37, for a total value of $33,370.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 20,592 shares in the company, valued at $687,155.04. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale 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 Investors Weigh In On Artesian Resources

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,272,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,021,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 4,084.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Artesian Resources Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of ARTNA traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,249. The firm has a market cap of $340.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.35. Artesian Resources has a 1-year low of $29.45 and a 1-year high of $38.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.34.

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

Artesian Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3074 per share. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Artesian Resources's payout ratio is currently 56.68%.

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.