Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) PT Raised to $124.00 at Barclays

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $118.00 to $124.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CPK opened at $116.18 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $118.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.02). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Utilities

In related news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $949,702.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CPK. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 53,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,596,000 after purchasing an additional 5,487 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 64.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 7.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.3% during 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. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the second quarter valued at about $238,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

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.