Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 12,423 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,423 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.18% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $5,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,934,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $234,761,000 after buying an additional 44,692 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 464,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,389,000 after acquiring an additional 13,742 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 10.3% in the 4th 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. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 9.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 269,886 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,751,000 after purchasing an additional 10,822 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CPK. Wall Street Zen lowered Chesapeake Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Chesapeake Utilities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of CPK traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $121.01. 81,799 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 106,069. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company's 50-day moving average price is $126.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.46. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 52-week low of $102.64 and a 52-week high of $136.73.

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

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.685 dividend. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Chesapeake Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Chesapeake Utilities's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.65%.

Chesapeake Utilities Company 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.