26,559 Shares in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK Acquired by Phocas Financial Corp.

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new stake of 26,559 shares in Chesapeake Utilities (≈$3.31M), leaving Phocas with about 0.11% ownership as institutional investors now hold roughly 83.11% of the stock, with large funds (Vanguard, State Street, Wellington, Invesco, AllianceBernstein) recently increasing positions.
• Chesapeake reported quarterly EPS of $1.94, missing estimates of $2.16, but revenue beat at $258.9M (up 20.4% YoY); the company set FY2028 guidance of 7.75–8.00 EPS.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.685 (annualized $2.74, ~2.1% yield, 45.8% payout ratio), the stock trades near $127.86 (market cap ~$3.07B), and analysts’ consensus rating is a Hold with an average price target of $140.00.

Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 26,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,314,000. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.11% of Chesapeake Utilities at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,970,357 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $265,387,000 after buying an additional 12,590 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,257,589 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $152,023,000 after purchasing an additional 9,556 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 27.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 952,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $128,231,000 after purchasing an additional 205,742 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 590,793 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $79,574,000 after purchasing an additional 16,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 831.0% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 511,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $68,884,000 after purchasing an additional 456,497 shares in the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE CPK opened at $127.86 on Thursday. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a one year low of $115.24 and a one year high of $140.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $130.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38 and a beta of 0.77.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by ($0.22). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 15.09%.The business had revenue of $258.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2028 guidance at 7.750-8.000 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.685 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Chesapeake Utilities's payout ratio is currently 45.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down from $141.00) on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.00.

About Chesapeake Utilities

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation NYSE: CPK is a diversified energy services holding company headquartered in Dover, Delaware. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company engages in natural gas distribution, transmission and storage; propane distribution; wholesale propane supply; and contract compression and natural gas liquids processing. Its core mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective energy solutions to residential, commercial and industrial customers across multiple U.S.

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