Park Avenue Securities LLC Makes New $227,000 Investment in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC invested approximately $227,000 to acquire 1,885 shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation ($CPK) in the second quarter.
• Chesapeake Utilities reported a positive earnings performance, with a 15.9% revenue increase year-over-year, posting $192.80 million and an EPS of $1.04 for the recent quarter.
• Despite favorable earnings, Barclays has lowered its price target for Chesapeake Utilities from $124.00 to $120.00 and maintains an "equal weight" rating on the stock.

Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,885 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CPK. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the first quarter valued at $26,299,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 13,619.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 148,722 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,100,000 after acquiring an additional 147,638 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $12,967,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the 1st quarter worth about $10,467,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 57.1% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 177,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,738,000 after acquiring an additional 64,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $124.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $124.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, CFO Beth W. Cooper sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.15, for a total value of $660,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 90,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,722.95. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of CPK stock opened at $135.02 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07 and a beta of 0.74. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $125.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.17. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a 52 week low of $115.12 and a 52 week high of $136.73.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 14.89%.The firm had revenue of $192.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 6th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.685 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Chesapeake Utilities's payout ratio is 48.84%.

About Chesapeake Utilities

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.