Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Grows Stock Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,487 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned approximately 0.24% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $6,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,859,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $199,471,000 after purchasing an additional 118,878 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 4.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 489,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,979,000 after acquiring an additional 19,100 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 28.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 428,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,014,000 after acquiring an additional 94,980 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 61.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 275,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,529,000 after acquiring an additional 104,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 274,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,142,000 after purchasing an additional 118,561 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $117.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71 and a beta of 0.61. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1 year low of $83.79 and a 1 year high of $125.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $118.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.33.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is 53.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Utilities

In other news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,702.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.