State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Buys 565 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 565 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury owned approximately 0.06% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $1,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 39,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 287,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,760,000 after purchasing an additional 14,430 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $5,110,000. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $132.28 on Wednesday. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a one year low of $102.64 and a one year high of $136.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.35.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.16% and a return on equity of 9.08%. The firm had revenue of $215.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $237.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. Research analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CPK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.67.

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.