Yousif Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,895 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $1,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPK. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $1,060,000. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 81,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,577,000 after buying an additional 37,000 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,265,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,078,000. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 122,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,921,000 after acquiring an additional 12,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CPK opened at $110.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $103.98 and its 200 day moving average is $100.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1-year low of $83.79 and a 1-year 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.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.11. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The firm had revenue of $185.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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