Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 4,764 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,764 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned 0.15% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $2,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 308.6% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 126.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the third quarter valued at $52,000. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CPK has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock traded down $0.84 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $110.03. 6,142 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 128,453. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1 year low of $83.79 and a 1 year high of $132.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $185.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $234.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.89%.

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.