Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Plans $0.64 Quarterly Dividend

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, October 7th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th.

Chesapeake Utilities has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Chesapeake Utilities has a payout ratio of 41.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities to earn $6.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.9%.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of CPK stock opened at $122.55 on Friday. Chesapeake Utilities has a 12-month low of $83.79 and a 12-month high of $123.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $116.27 and a 200-day moving average of $109.80.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.02). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total value of $1,094,037.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,702.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.20.

About Chesapeake Utilities

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.