Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Price Target Raised to $118.00

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) had its target price increased by Barclays from $111.00 to $118.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $111.20.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

CPK stock opened at $114.78 on Tuesday. Chesapeake Utilities has a 1 year low of $83.79 and a 1 year high of $120.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.11 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.70 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 10.17%. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $949,702.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chesapeake Utilities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $199,471,000 after acquiring an additional 118,878 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 628,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,392,000 after purchasing an additional 4,208 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 489,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,979,000 after purchasing an additional 19,100 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 28.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 428,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,014,000 after buying an additional 94,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 61.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 275,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,529,000 after purchasing an additional 104,850 shares during the last quarter. 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.