Wealthspire Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 224 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $3,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. BOKF NA bought a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities during the second quarter valued at approximately $328,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 30,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,409 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 44,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,769,000 after purchasing an additional 8,707 shares during the last quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at about $414,000. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $251,000. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE CPK opened at $122.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.79 and a fifty-two week high of $123.43. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.75 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.80.

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

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is 53.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was 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 owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,702.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities 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.