Private Advisor Group LLC Buys New Stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.8% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in 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. Creative Planning grew its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.2% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 4,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,189,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

CPK opened at $124.63 on Friday. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a one year low of $83.79 and a one year high of $128.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.63 and a beta of 0.61.

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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.70 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on CPK. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $949,702.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.