Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Shares Acquired by SRS Capital Advisors Inc.

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 308.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $30,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.5% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 13.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 11,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 9.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 65,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,379,000 after buying an additional 5,542 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 44,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CPK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 0.8 %

CPK stock opened at $110.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $104.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 52-week low of $83.79 and a 52-week high of $132.91.

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

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

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

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.