Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.30

Artesian Resources Co. (NASDAQ:ARTNA) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 6th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of 0.296 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is a positive change from Artesian Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

Artesian Resources has raised its dividend by an average of 4.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 6 years. Artesian Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 55.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Artesian Resources to earn $2.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.2%.

Artesian Resources Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARTNA traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.22. 2,292 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,635. The company has a market capitalization of $393.28 million, a P/E ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 0.20. Artesian Resources has a 1 year low of $33.42 and a 1 year high of $55.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.26.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $24.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.00 million. Artesian Resources had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 16.89%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Artesian Resources will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ARTNA shares. TheStreet cut shares of Artesian Resources from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Artesian Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

About Artesian Resources

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.