Chesapeake Utilities Co. (CPK) To Go Ex-Dividend on June 14th

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59.

Chesapeake Utilities has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Chesapeake Utilities has a dividend payout ratio of 37.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities to earn $6.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.7%.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CPK opened at $111.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $104.94 and its 200-day moving average is $101.29. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities has a 52-week low of $83.79 and a 52-week high of $132.91.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The company had revenue of $245.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on 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 upped their price objective 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. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

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.