Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 5,540 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 400,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,540 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.80% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $42,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.3% in the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 29,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,139,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 10.2% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 17.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Barclays increased their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.20.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CPK opened at $118.42 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.88 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 52 week low of $83.79 and a 52 week high of $120.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $113.66 and its 200-day moving average is $108.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.02). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is 53.78%.

Insider Transactions at Chesapeake Utilities

In related news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total transaction of $1,094,037.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $949,702.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.68% 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.