R Squared Ltd Invests $63,000 in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $63,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ARTNA. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 19.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources in the second quarter worth about $1,032,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources in the second quarter worth about $441,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources in the second quarter worth about $6,220,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources in the second quarter worth about $2,856,000. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Artesian Resources Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:ARTNA opened at $31.00 on Friday. Artesian Resources Co. has a 1-year low of $29.45 and a 1-year high of $41.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.95 and a 200 day moving average of $34.90. The firm has a market cap of $319.30 million, a PE ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $29.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.00 million. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 8.57%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.3014 dividend. This is a positive change from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.05%.

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.