Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Short Interest Update

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 87,900 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the February 13th total of 72,300 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 40,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 12.2% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 143,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,334,000 after purchasing an additional 15,580 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 110,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 169.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 10,089 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Artesian Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $289,000. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

NASDAQ ARTNA opened at $31.44 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $323.77 million, a PE ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 0.19. Artesian Resources has a 1 year low of $29.45 and a 1 year high of $41.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $31.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.51.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.3014 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

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.