D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Makes New $550,000 Investment in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $550,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.17% of Artesian Resources at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Artesian Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 703.3% during the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Artesian Resources by 100.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Artesian Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $272,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 17,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 3,995 shares during the last quarter. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Artesian Resources Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of ARTNA stock traded up $0.73 on Friday, hitting $34.48. 33,278 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 49,058. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 0.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $33.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.63. Artesian Resources Co. has a one year low of $29.45 and a one year 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.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.18. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 18.96%. The company had revenue of $25.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.00 million. Equities analysts forecast that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. This is a boost from Artesian Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Artesian Resources's payout ratio is currently 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.