Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,638 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $1,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,859,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $199,471,000 after acquiring an additional 118,878 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 628,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,392,000 after acquiring an additional 4,208 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 455,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,164,000 after acquiring an additional 9,040 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 428,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,014,000 after acquiring an additional 94,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 61.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 275,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,529,000 after acquiring an additional 104,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $949,702.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barclays increased their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.20.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CPK opened at $122.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $116.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.80. 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 1-year low of $83.79 and a 1-year high of $123.43. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued 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 payout ratio is currently 53.78%.

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.