Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 802 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.08% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $1,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CPK. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 180.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 17.7% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 81.8% in the second quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 10.2% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.20.

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Utilities

In related 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 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 $949,702.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of CPK opened at $123.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91 and a beta of 0.60. 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 $125.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $118.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.52.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.70 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.78%.

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.