Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Trims Holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 18.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,888 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $1,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 33.7% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 57,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,071,000 after buying an additional 14,417 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake 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 buying an additional 118,561 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the first quarter valued at about $583,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 6.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,859,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,471,000 after buying an additional 118,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 104,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of CPK stock opened at $126.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $121.32 and a 200 day moving average of $115.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65 and a beta of 0.61. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a twelve month low of $90.21 and a twelve month high of $128.54.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays raised their price objective 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.

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.