Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Posts 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) issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The utilities provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.05, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $28.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.00 million. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 9.60%.

Artesian Resources Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARTNA traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,348. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.60 and a 200-day moving average of $32.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.88 million, a P/E ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Artesian Resources has a 12-month low of $29.45 and a 12-month high of $38.94.

Artesian Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.3074 dividend. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Artesian Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.13%.

Institutional Trading of Artesian Resources

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARTNA. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Artesian Resources by 985.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,713 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 2,463 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Artesian Resources by 129.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 37,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,225,000 after buying an additional 21,127 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Artesian Resources by 10.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 72,289 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,360,000 after buying an additional 6,956 shares during the period. 57.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.