Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Key Points

• Artesian Resources reported quarterly earnings of $0.61 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.05, with a net margin of 19.60% and a return on equity of 8.98%.
• The company's quarterly dividend was increased to $0.3074 per share, resulting in an annualized rate of $1.23 and a dividend yield of 3.7%.
• Institutional investors have increased their stakes in Artesian Resources, with Jane Street Group LLC boosting its holdings by 129.0% in the first quarter.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 20.84%. The company had revenue of $28.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $29.00 million.

Artesian Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Artesian Resources stock traded up $0.23 on Friday, reaching $33.43. 3,706 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,249. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company's 50-day moving average is $33.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.97. The firm has a market cap of $344.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.34. Artesian Resources has a 1-year low of $29.45 and a 1-year high of $38.94.

Artesian Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.3074 per share. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Artesian Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.68%.

Institutional Trading of Artesian Resources

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Artesian Resources by 985.2% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,713 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Artesian Resources by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 72,289 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 6,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Artesian Resources by 129.0% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 37,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,225,000 after purchasing an additional 21,127 shares in the last quarter. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Artesian Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

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.