T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,374,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 101,506 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 10.42% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $288,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,934,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $234,761,000 after acquiring an additional 44,692 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,110,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,632,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 10.3% during 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 during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 342.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,600,000 after acquiring an additional 28,673 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CPK traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $132.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,084. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 12-month low of $102.64 and a 12-month high of $136.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84 and a beta of 0.66. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $128.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.30.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.16% and a return on equity of 9.08%. The company had revenue of $215.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CPK. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Chesapeake Utilities to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $122.67.

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.