American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 3,409 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,409 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $3,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 455,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,164,000 after buying an additional 9,040 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,737 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,362 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 76,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,115,000 after purchasing an additional 11,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,000. Institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $122.22 on Friday. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 52 week low of $83.79 and a 52 week high of $125.34. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $118.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68 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 (NYSE:CPK) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barclays upped their price target on 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 issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at $949,702.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.