Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) Stock Price Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTNA)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $33.58 and traded as high as $33.64. Artesian Resources shares last traded at $33.43, with a volume of 13,034 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Artesian Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Artesian Resources Trading Up 3.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $351.32 million, a PE ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Artesian Resources had a net margin of 20.18% and a return on equity of 9.37%. The firm had revenue of $30.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.80 million.

Artesian Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.3199 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Artesian Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARTNA. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Artesian Resources by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 320,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,207,000 after acquiring an additional 42,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Artesian Resources by 372.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 45,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 35,718 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Artesian Resources by 30.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 73,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 17,213 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Artesian Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $394,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in Artesian Resources by 11.9% in the first quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 73,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 7,820 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.37% of the company’s stock.

About Artesian Resources

Artesian Resources Corporation is a regulated water utility holding company headquartered in Newark, Delaware. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides water and wastewater services to residential, commercial, industrial and governmental customers in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Artesian’s principal business is the operation and maintenance of water supply and distribution systems, including the treatment and delivery of potable water. Its subsidiaries also provide wastewater collection and treatment, contract operations, water service management, engineering and other related services.

Founded in 1905, Artesian has expanded from its original Delaware operations to serve communities across the Delmarva Peninsula.