Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Lowers Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,819 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $1,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the second quarter valued at $251,000. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities during the second quarter valued at about $3,834,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 504.8% during the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 4.6% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 170.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 124,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,245,000 after acquiring an additional 78,613 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total value of $1,094,037.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at $949,702.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:CPK opened at $122.67 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.16. The stock has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 52 week low of $83.79 and a 52 week high of $125.34.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.70 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 13.61%. Chesapeake Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barclays raised their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.20.

Chesapeake Utilities 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.