Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Stock Price Up 1.3%

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) were up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $102.50 and last traded at $102.02. Approximately 31,403 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 139,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CPK shares. StockNews.com lowered Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Utilities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $185.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.60 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is 49.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,900,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,128,000 after acquiring an additional 438,569 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,740,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,809,000 after acquiring an additional 334,088 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 668,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,960,000 after acquiring an additional 9,363 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 628,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,392,000 after acquiring an additional 4,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 539,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,779,000 after acquiring an additional 40,037 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Company 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.