Cwm LLC Purchases 1,128 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Cwm LLC raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 3,317.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 10,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.9% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 61,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,507,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CPK. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE CPK opened at $110.05 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a twelve month low of $83.79 and a twelve month high of $132.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.88.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $185.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.60 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.89%.

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.