Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Shares Acquired by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $2,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,934,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $234,761,000 after buying an additional 44,692 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $5,110,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $4,632,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 10.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 342.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,600,000 after buying an additional 28,673 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CPK. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Chesapeake Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.67.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE CPK opened at $134.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28 and a beta of 0.66. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1-year low of $98.32 and a 1-year high of $134.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $126.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.34.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $215.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.84 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.16% and a return on equity of 9.08%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Chesapeake Utilities 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.