Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Shares Bought by Creative Planning

Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Artesian Resources were worth $318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARTNA. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,856,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in Artesian Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,220,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in Artesian Resources by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 146,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ELCO Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Artesian Resources by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 11,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ ARTNA opened at $35.86 on Friday. Artesian Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $32.93 and a 12 month high of $44.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $369.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 0.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.72.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.05. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm had revenue of $29.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.00 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.301 dividend. This is an increase from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.51%.

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.