Choreo LLC Takes Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,740,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,809,000 after buying an additional 334,088 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 234,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,823,000 after purchasing an additional 135,462 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 76.1% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 274,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,142,000 after purchasing an additional 118,561 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 104,850 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 28.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 428,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,014,000 after purchasing an additional 94,980 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE CPK opened at $122.67 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $116.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.70 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 13.61%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total value of $1,094,037.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at $949,702.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

About Chesapeake Utilities

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.