Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $1,060,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 122,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,921,000 after buying an additional 12,764 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $2,048,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $14,227,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 193,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,926,000 after acquiring an additional 10,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CPK opened at $105.67 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $103.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.07. 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 Co. has a one year low of $83.79 and a one year high of $132.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 0.60.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.11. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The firm had revenue of $185.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $234.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CPK. StockNews.com cut shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

About Chesapeake Utilities

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.