Harbour Investments Inc. Lowers Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Harbour Investments Inc. decreased its position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 531 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 11.6% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 41,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,095,000 after acquiring an additional 4,262 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 5.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 287,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,760,000 after acquiring an additional 14,430 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CPK opened at $123.86 on Friday. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 12-month low of $98.32 and a 12-month high of $134.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $124.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.50.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $215.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.84 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.16% and a return on equity of 9.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CPK. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th.

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.