Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 538 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Artesian Resources were worth $83,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 6.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Artesian Resources by 170.0% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Artesian Resources by 11.9% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Artesian Resources by 11.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Artesian Resources by 21.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARTNA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Artesian Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet cut Artesian Resources from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th.

Artesian Resources Trading Up 1.5 %

ARTNA opened at $34.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $358.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01 and a beta of 0.18. Artesian Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $33.42 and a 52 week high of $57.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.75. 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 (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter. The company 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Artesian Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.88%.

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.