Artesian Resources Corporation $ARTNA Shares Acquired by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Artesian Resources by 16.6% during Q1, now owning 53,623 shares valued at $1.75 million.
• Artesian Resources recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.61, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.56.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3074 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 3.7%.

Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Free Report) by 16.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 7,632 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.52% of Artesian Resources worth $1,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Artesian Resources by 4,084.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Artesian Resources by 100.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $247,000. 57.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Artesian Resources

In other Artesian Resources news, SVP John M. Thaeder sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.37, for a total value of $33,370.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $687,155.04. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 20.59% of the company's stock.

Artesian Resources Stock Up 1.0%

ARTNA traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.24. 21,921 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,316. Artesian Resources Corporation has a 12-month low of $29.45 and a 12-month high of $38.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.35 and a 200 day moving average of $33.31. The firm has a market cap of $342.70 million, a P/E ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Artesian Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.3074 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Artesian Resources's dividend 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.