Foundry Partners LLC Increases Position in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 150,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,196 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC owned approximately 1.46% of Artesian Resources worth $4,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Artesian Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $289,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Artesian Resources by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 110,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Artesian Resources by 169.7% during the 3rd 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. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Artesian Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of ARTNA opened at $32.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $331.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.27. Artesian Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $29.45 and a 52 week high of $41.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $31.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $25.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.00 million. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 18.96%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.3014 per share. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.61%.

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.