8,587 Shares in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 12,396 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Artesian Resources by 169.7% in 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. 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 worth $4,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Artesian Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Trading Up 3.9 %

NASDAQ ARTNA opened at $33.10 on Friday. Artesian Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $29.45 and a 12 month high of $41.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.03 million, a P/E ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.3014 dividend. This is a boost from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Artesian Resources’s payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

Artesian Resources 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.