nVerses Capital LLC Buys Shares of 800 Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $99,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CPK. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 228,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,137,000 after acquiring an additional 85,801 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,740,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,809,000 after acquiring an additional 334,088 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 26,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,817,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 133,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,299,000 after acquiring an additional 10,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 5,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barclays increased their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

CPK stock opened at $122.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $119.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.80. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1 year low of $83.79 and a 1 year 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 net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given 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 was Monday, September 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.78%.

Insider Transactions at Chesapeake Utilities

In other news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,702.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate 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.