Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 23.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,738 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at about $18,219,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 262,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,546,000 after acquiring an additional 70,943 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,750,000. Citadel Advisors LLC grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 80,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,422,000 after acquiring an additional 55,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,414,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,181,000 after acquiring an additional 51,208 shares during the last quarter. 74.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPK has been the topic of several recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Chesapeake Utilities in a research report on Thursday, October 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $124.00 to $117.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. TheStreet lowered Chesapeake Utilities from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Chesapeake Utilities from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $112.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE CPK opened at $91.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a twelve month low of $84.10 and a twelve month high of $132.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $100.31 and its 200 day moving average is $114.58.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.08). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $135.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.60 million. Research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Profile

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation operates as an energy delivery company. The company operates through two segments, Regulated Energy and Unregulated Energy. The Regulated Energy segment natural gas distribution operations in central and southern Delaware, Maryland's eastern shore, and Florida; regulated natural gas transmission in the Delmarva Peninsula, Ohio, and Florida; and regulated electric distribution in northeast and northwest Florida.