Insider Selling: Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) CFO Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) CFO Beth Cooper sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.15, for a total value of $660,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 90,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,722.95. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

CPK stock opened at $134.76 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $124.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02 and a beta of 0.70. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $115.12 and a fifty-two week high of $136.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $192.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.45 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 14.89%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.150-6.35 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 6th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.685 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 48.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barclays cut their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $124.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 292.9% in 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. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1,909.1% in the second quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 94.7% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

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.