Chesapeake Utilities Co. (CPK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.64 on January 6th

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th.

Chesapeake Utilities has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Chesapeake Utilities has a payout ratio of 40.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities to earn $6.25 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 41.0%.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $127.15 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.05. Chesapeake Utilities has a 1 year low of $98.25 and a 1 year high of $134.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79 and a beta of 0.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

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.