SG Americas Securities LLC Boosts Holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) by 1,040.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,654 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $1,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 94.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 292.9% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 66.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 77.4% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down from $141.00) on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:CPK opened at $129.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67 and a beta of 0.77. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a 12-month low of $115.24 and a 12-month high of $140.59.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $258.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.59 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 15.09%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2028 guidance at 7.750-8.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.685 dividend. This represents a $2.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 45.82%.

Chesapeake Utilities Profile

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.