New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $3.76 Million Stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $3,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 2,018.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 19.2% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the third quarter valued at about $182,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CPK opened at $126.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.24 and a 200-day moving average of $122.35. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70 and a beta of 0.65. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a one year low of $98.32 and a one year high of $134.20.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $215.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $237.84 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 14.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Chesapeake Utilities 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.