Chesapeake Utilities Co. (CPK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.64 on April 7th

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, April 7th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Chesapeake Utilities has increased its dividend by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Chesapeake Utilities has a payout ratio of 37.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities to earn $6.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.0%.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CPK opened at $126.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $122.10 and its 200-day moving average is $122.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75 and a beta of 0.65. Chesapeake Utilities has a 12 month low of $98.32 and a 12 month high of $134.20.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.63 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $237.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CPK shares. StockNews.com lowered Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim upped their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.