Jeffry Householder Sells 10,000 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Stock

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) CEO Jeffry Householder sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.12, for a total value of $1,261,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,945,686.12. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Down 1.0%

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $125.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.43. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a one year low of $117.64 and a one year high of $140.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $127.02 and a 200 day moving average of $129.03.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $353.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $339.86 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 15.11%.Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2028 guidance at 7.750-8.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.735 per share. This represents a $2.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chesapeake Utilities

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,020,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $252,033,000 after acquiring an additional 49,789 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,257,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $152,023,000 after acquiring an additional 9,556 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 27.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 952,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,231,000 after buying an additional 205,742 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 590,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,574,000 after buying an additional 16,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 554,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,217,000 after buying an additional 6,808 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Chesapeake Utilities in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price objective for the company. Barclays set a $142.00 price objective on Chesapeake Utilities and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Company Profile

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK) is a diversified energy services holding company headquartered in Dover, Delaware. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company engages in natural gas distribution, transmission and storage; propane distribution; wholesale propane supply; and contract compression and natural gas liquids processing. Its core mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective energy solutions to residential, commercial and industrial customers across multiple U.S.