Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.73

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th will be given a dividend of 0.735 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, October 5th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 14th.

Chesapeake Utilities has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. Chesapeake Utilities has a payout ratio of 43.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities to earn $7.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.9%.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

CPK stock traded down $1.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $132.22. The stock had a trading volume of 69,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 158,516. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $127.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.68. Chesapeake Utilities has a 1-year low of $118.88 and a 1-year high of $140.83.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $201.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.91 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 15.11%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.750-8.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays set a $142.00 price target on Chesapeake Utilities and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Chesapeake Utilities in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.00.

About Chesapeake Utilities

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.