Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Shares Acquired by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,636,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 109,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,271,000 after buying an additional 2,445 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Research Inc. raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 12,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 24,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,938,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $484,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPK has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Chesapeake Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of CPK opened at $132.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.64 and a fifty-two week high of $136.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 0.66.

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 company had revenue of $215.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.84 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 14.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

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.