First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 3,969 Shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lowered its stake in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,969 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 0.96% of Artesian Resources worth $3,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARTNA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Artesian Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 16.9% during the 4th 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Artesian Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $272,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 22,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 11,502 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Stock Up 0.1 %

ARTNA opened at $34.50 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.70. Artesian Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $29.45 and a 52 week high of $41.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $355.45 million, a PE ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.36.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $25.89 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.3074 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This is an increase from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Artesian Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

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.