Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) by 19.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Artesian Resources were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Artesian Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Artesian Resources by 132.6% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 19,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 10,861 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Artesian Resources by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 127,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,497,000 after buying an additional 8,730 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Artesian Resources in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

Artesian Resources Stock Down 1.6 %

ARTNA opened at $36.10 on Friday. Artesian Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $33.34 and a 1 year high of $44.78. The company has a market cap of $371.40 million, a PE ratio of 21.34 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.80.

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

Artesian Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.296 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.