Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 90,266 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) by 24.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 281,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 90,266 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.22% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $36,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 50.7% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 114.3% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 5,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPK has been the topic of a number of research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Chesapeake Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of CPK stock opened at $123.57 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84 and a beta of 0.65. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a one year low of $110.37 and a one year high of $136.73.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $298.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.45 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 14.69%. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.685 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 50.65%.

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.