Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Hold (C+) Rating for Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "Hold (C+)" rating for Chesapeake Utilities, while Barclays has lowered its price target for the stock from $124.00 to $120.00 with an "equal weight" rating.
• Chesapeake Utilities reported $1.04 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and has set a fiscal year 2025 EPS guidance of 6.150-6.35.
• Insider trading was noted as CFO Beth W. Cooper sold 5,000 shares of the stock, reducing her ownership by 5.22% despite significant institutional ownership at 83.11%.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c+)" rating reissued by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report released on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Separately, Barclays lowered their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $124.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $124.50.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock traded up $0.84 on Wednesday, hitting $138.96. The stock had a trading volume of 112,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 157,924. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Chesapeake Utilities has a one year low of $115.12 and a one year high of $139.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $126.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.55.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $192.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $182.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.150-6.35 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Beth W. Cooper sold 5,000 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.15, for a total transaction of $660,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 90,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987,722.95. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Vista Finance LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $404,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $263,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,823 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company's stock.

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.

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