ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 15.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,174 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $7,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 6.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,859,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,471,000 after purchasing an additional 118,878 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 628,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,392,000 after buying an additional 4,208 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 4.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 489,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,979,000 after buying an additional 19,100 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 28.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 428,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,014,000 after buying an additional 94,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 61.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 275,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,529,000 after acquiring an additional 104,850 shares in the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Chesapeake Utilities

In related news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total transaction of $1,094,037.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $949,702.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of CPK opened at $122.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $118.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 12-month low of $83.79 and a 12-month high of $125.34.

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

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Chesapeake Utilities Company 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.