Strs Ohio Has $8.58 Million Stock Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Strs Ohio lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 83.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 37,000 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $8,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 59.8% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 1.1 %

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $100.75 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.53 and a 200-day moving average of $99.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a one year low of $83.79 and a one year high of $132.91.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $185.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.60 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 13.01%. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.89%.

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.