OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Acquires New Position in Artesian Resources Corporation $ARTNA

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired 8,900 shares of Artesian Resources Corporation, valued at approximately $291,000, increasing their stake to 0.09% of the company's stock.
• Artesian Resources announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3074 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $1.23 and a yield of 3.8%.
• In the latest earnings report, Artesian Resources reported earnings per share of $0.61, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.56, while total revenue was $28.55 million.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in shares of Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $291,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Artesian Resources as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 131.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 24,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $784,000 after buying an additional 13,650 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Artesian Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $407,000. Citadel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 56.1% in the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 53,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 19,152 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Artesian Resources by 4,084.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Finally, Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its holdings in Artesian Resources by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 91,294 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 13,884 shares during the last quarter. 57.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Artesian Resources Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ ARTNA traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $32.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,916. Artesian Resources Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $29.45 and a fifty-two week high of $38.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Artesian Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3074 per share. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Artesian Resources's payout ratio is 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.