New York State Teachers Retirement System Increases Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 17.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,900,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $345,128,000 after purchasing an additional 438,569 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,414,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,208 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 668,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,960,000 after purchasing an additional 9,363 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 8.0% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 539,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,779,000 after purchasing an additional 40,037 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.7% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 458,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,217,000 after buying an additional 11,909 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of CPK stock opened at $102.51 on Friday. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 12-month low of $83.79 and a 12-month high of $132.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $103.55 and its 200 day moving average is $99.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67 and a beta of 0.60.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.11. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The company had revenue of $185.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $234.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 49.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Company Profile

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.