Short Interest in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Declines By 8.0%

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 343,200 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the October 15th total of 373,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 89,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 33.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 57,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,071,000 after purchasing an additional 14,417 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 76.1% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 274,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,142,000 after buying an additional 118,561 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $583,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,859,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,471,000 after acquiring an additional 118,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 61.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 275,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,529,000 after acquiring an additional 104,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CPK shares. StockNews.com raised Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock traded up $2.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $129.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 95,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 113,134. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $121.83 and a 200 day moving average of $115.58. Chesapeake Utilities has a 12 month low of $90.21 and a 12 month high of $129.54.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 51.93%.

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.