American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stake in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has reduced its stake in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation by 33.6%, now holding 25,133 shares valued at approximately $3.23 million.
• Chesapeake Utilities reported earnings of $1.04 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a 15.9% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.685, set to be paid on October 6th, with a current yield of 2.2%.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK - Free Report) by 33.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,133 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,717 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.11% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $3,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ethic Inc. raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 14,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,894,000 after buying an additional 1,124 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 45,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,865,000 after buying an additional 4,702 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 72,243 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,278,000 after buying an additional 15,498 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $12,967,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 485,822 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,394,000 after buying an additional 21,143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CPK shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $124.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $124.50.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

NYSE CPK traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $123.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 113,600. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01 and a beta of 0.70. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $115.12 and a fifty-two week high of $136.73. The company's 50-day moving average is $122.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $192.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $182.45 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.150-6.35 EPS. Analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.685 per share. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Chesapeake Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.84%.

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.