Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Receives $111.20 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the four research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $111.20.

Separately, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CPK opened at $122.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75 and a beta of 0.61. Chesapeake Utilities has a twelve month low of $83.79 and a twelve month high of $125.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $118.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.90.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 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 firm had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.78%.

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Utilities

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,702.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 7.2% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 22,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,358,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.3% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the second quarter worth $238,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 6.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 409.4% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 13,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 10,914 shares in the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.