Manchester Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

Manchester Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 21.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,335 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Artesian Resources worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARTNA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Artesian Resources by 11.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 546,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,962,000 after buying an additional 58,055 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Artesian Resources by 55.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 83,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,481,000 after purchasing an additional 30,101 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 116,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,840,000 after purchasing an additional 7,305 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Artesian Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Artesian Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

Artesian Resources Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Artesian Resources stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.37. 6,316 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 61,002. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Artesian Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $33.34 and a twelve month high of $49.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.65. The company has a market cap of $405.12 million, a PE ratio of 22.78 and a beta of 0.19.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $24.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.00 million. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 7.57%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artesian Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $0.296 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.41%.

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.