Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 31,584 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 203,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,584 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.85% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $25,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 292.9% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 94.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 66.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, SVP Kevin J. Webber sold 2,000 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.37, for a total transaction of $254,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,611,485.24. The trade was a 13.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffry M. Householder sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.12, for a total value of $1,261,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 63,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,945,686.12. The trade was a 13.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of CPK stock opened at $135.81 on Tuesday. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.83 and a fifty-two week high of $140.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.60.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $353.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.86 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 15.11% and a return on equity of 9.53%. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2028 guidance at 7.750-8.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.735 dividend. This is an increase from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 47.12%.

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.