Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Upgraded to "Hold" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday.

Separately, TheStreet cut Artesian Resources from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Monday, February 5th.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

ARTNA traded up $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $34.37. 45,502 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,263. The company's 50-day moving average is $35.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.84. The company has a market cap of $353.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Artesian Resources has a 12-month low of $33.42 and a 12-month high of $57.69.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $24.55 million for the quarter. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 16.89%. Research analysts forecast that Artesian Resources will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artesian Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Artesian Resources's payout ratio is presently 69.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in Artesian Resources by 6.3% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 109,456 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,596,000 after buying an additional 6,488 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 170.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 257,466 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,811,000 after purchasing an additional 162,092 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 546,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,962,000 after purchasing an additional 58,055 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 20,650 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 12,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.37% of the company's stock.

Artesian Resources Company Profile

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.