First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Stock Position in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 316,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,226 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.34% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $42,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CPK. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 3.8% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 4.5% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 94.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on CPK shares. Barclays reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down from $141.00) on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Chesapeake Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

NYSE CPK opened at $128.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56 and a beta of 0.78. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a 1-year low of $115.24 and a 1-year high of $140.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $129.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.05.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.16 by ($0.22). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 15.09%.The firm had revenue of $258.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2028 guidance at 7.750-8.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.685 per share. This represents a $2.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffry M. Householder sold 7,500 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.74, for a total transaction of $950,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 56,916 shares in the company, valued at $7,213,533.84. This trade represents a 11.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 17,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,185 in the last 90 days. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chesapeake Utilities Profile

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK) is a diversified energy services holding company headquartered in Dover, Delaware. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company engages in natural gas distribution, transmission and storage; propane distribution; wholesale propane supply; and contract compression and natural gas liquids processing. Its core mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective energy solutions to residential, commercial and industrial customers across multiple U.S.