Citadel Advisors LLC Buys 19,152 Shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Free Report) by 56.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,152 shares during the quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC owned 0.52% of Artesian Resources worth $1,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 18,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 703.3% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 63,214 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 9,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Artesian Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $272,000. 57.37% of the stock is 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 report on Monday, May 5th.

Artesian Resources Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of ARTNA traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.96. 6,909 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 50,685. Artesian Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $29.45 and a 52 week high of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $350.06 million, a PE ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.64.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $25.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.00 million. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 18.96%. On average, analysts predict that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.3074 per share. This is a boost from Artesian Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Artesian Resources's payout ratio is presently 59.13%.

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.