Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 351 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CPK. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter worth $14,227,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter worth $5,755,000. Strs Ohio boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 81,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,577,000 after acquiring an additional 37,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 148.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 61,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,040,000 after acquiring an additional 36,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 91,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,917,000 after acquiring an additional 23,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE CPK opened at $107.30 on Thursday. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1-year low of $83.79 and a 1-year high of $132.91. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 0.60. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $103.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.56.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $185.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $234.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio 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.