Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 271,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.18% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $34,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 4.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 518,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,556,000 after buying an additional 23,053 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 281,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,210,000 after buying an additional 23,160 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 13,619.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 148,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,100,000 after buying an additional 147,638 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 113,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,568,000 after buying an additional 2,989 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,561,000 after purchasing an additional 3,901 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $124.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:CPK opened at $123.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96 and a beta of 0.66. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $112.92 and a fifty-two week high of $136.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $121.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.85.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $192.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.685 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.84%.

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.