Wall Street Zen Downgrades Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) to Sell

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays set a $141.00 price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $128.86 on Friday. Chesapeake Utilities has a 1 year low of $115.24 and a 1 year high of $140.59. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $127.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.00.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.30 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 9.03%. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.150-6.350 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Utilities

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, CEO Jeffry M. Householder sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.83, for a total transaction of $240,083.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,916 shares in the company, valued at $6,532,590.28. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffery S. Sylvester sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.08, for a total value of $137,080.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 11,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,633,445.28. This trade represents a 7.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,355,265. 2.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,020,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $252,033,000 after purchasing an additional 49,789 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,257,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $152,023,000 after purchasing an additional 9,556 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 27.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 952,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,231,000 after buying an additional 205,742 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 3.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 590,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,574,000 after buying an additional 16,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 545,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,545,000 after buying an additional 9,632 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Chesapeake Utilities

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK) is a diversified energy services holding company headquartered in Dover, Delaware. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company engages in natural gas distribution, transmission and storage; propane distribution; wholesale propane supply; and contract compression and natural gas liquids processing. Its core mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective energy solutions to residential, commercial and industrial customers across multiple U.S.