Ballentine Partners LLC Invests $217,000 in Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA)

Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 5,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 6.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 5.9% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Artesian Resources by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after buying an additional 12,523 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Artesian Resources by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 216,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,043,000 after purchasing an additional 39,234 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new position in Artesian Resources in the 1st quarter valued at $161,000. 57.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Artesian Resources Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARTNA opened at $33.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $347.53 million, a PE ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.19. Artesian Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $33.34 and a 1 year high of $44.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.74.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $27.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.00 million. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 7.90% and a net margin of 17.74%. Analysts forecast that Artesian Resources Co. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Artesian Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.296 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Artesian Resources’s payout ratio 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.