Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 110,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,632 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $13,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 342.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,600,000 after purchasing an additional 28,673 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 61,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,644,000 after purchasing an additional 14,607 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 287,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,760,000 after purchasing an additional 14,430 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 495,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,090,000 after buying an additional 12,889 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,222,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $152,513,000 after buying an additional 11,068 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $126.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.22. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 12-month low of $98.32 and a 12-month high of $134.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 14.16%. The firm had revenue of $215.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $237.84 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CPK shares. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

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.