Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Coverage Initiated at Wells Fargo & Company

Research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 4.96% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays set a $142.00 price objective on Chesapeake Utilities and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Utilities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of CPK opened at $125.76 on Tuesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $128.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15 and a beta of 0.71. Chesapeake Utilities has a 52 week low of $115.24 and a 52 week high of $140.59.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CPK. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,984,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.9% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 46,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,920,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 4.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 115,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.9% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 21,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,737,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.