Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 3,624 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,624 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $6,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,934,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $234,761,000 after purchasing an additional 44,692 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 495,178 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,090,000 after purchasing an additional 12,889 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 464,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,389,000 after purchasing an additional 13,742 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 317,752 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $38,559,000 after purchasing an additional 29,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 281,910 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,210,000 after purchasing an additional 23,160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CPK. Wall Street Zen cut Chesapeake Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Chesapeake Utilities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock traded up $1.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $121.60. 125,147 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 105,956. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1 year low of $102.64 and a 1 year high of $136.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.67 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.96.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.28 by ($0.06). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.16% and a return on equity of 9.08%. The business had revenue of $298.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $248.45 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.685 dividend. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. This is a boost from Chesapeake Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Chesapeake Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.65%.

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.