Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 17,233 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 112,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,233 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $11,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 308.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 126.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of 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 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.50.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CPK opened at $108.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.99. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a one year low of $83.79 and a one year high of $132.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.46.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $245.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.16 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 13.90%. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.58%.

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.