Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,030 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.17% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $4,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,934,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $234,761,000 after purchasing an additional 44,692 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $5,110,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $4,632,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 317,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,559,000 after acquiring an additional 29,759 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,732,000. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Utilities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CPK opened at $132.27 on Friday. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a twelve month low of $102.64 and a twelve month high of $136.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.15.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $215.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.84 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 14.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

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.