Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 49,789 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

Key Points

• Vanguard Group increased its Chesapeake Utilities stake by 2.5% in Q4, adding 49,789 shares and bringing its total holding to 2,020,146 shares, or about 8.54% of the company.
• Chesapeake Utilities reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting EPS of $2.47 versus the $2.38 estimate and revenue of $353.1 million, up 18.2% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.735 per share from $0.69, implying an annualized dividend of $2.94 and a yield of 2.3%.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,020,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 49,789 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.54% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $252,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tufton Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 94,554 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,796,000 after purchasing an additional 23,304 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 365,353 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,581,000 after purchasing an additional 41,592 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $2,880,000. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $3,314,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 12,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CPK. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays set a $142.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $142.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $126.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a 1 year low of $115.24 and a 1 year high of $140.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $128.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.46.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $353.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $339.86 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 15.11% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2028 guidance at 7.750-8.00 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.735 dividend. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Chesapeake Utilities's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.91%.

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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