Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of CPK traded up $3.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $124.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 106,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 113,782. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $120.74 and a 200 day moving average of $114.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Chesapeake Utilities has a 1 year low of $83.79 and a 1 year high of $128.13.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.70 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 13.61%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total value of $1,094,037.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $949,702.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,859,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,471,000 after purchasing an additional 118,878 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 9.5% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 592,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,567,000 after acquiring an additional 51,164 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 489,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,979,000 after purchasing an additional 19,100 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 300,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,320,000 after purchasing an additional 26,147 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 61.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 275,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,529,000 after purchasing an additional 104,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.