Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.02), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.70 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 10.17%. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Chesapeake Utilities updated its FY24 guidance to $5.33-$5.45 EPS.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock traded down $1.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $113.90. 113,780 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 123,840. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $111.05 and its 200-day moving average is $107.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities has a 52 week low of $83.79 and a 52 week high of $120.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 53.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.80.

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.