Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 11,528 Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 11,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,632,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 28,673 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 31.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 61,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,644,000 after purchasing an additional 14,607 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 5.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 287,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,760,000 after purchasing an additional 14,430 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 495,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,090,000 after purchasing an additional 12,889 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $125.68 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1 year low of $98.32 and a 1 year high of $134.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its quarterly 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). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 14.16%. The firm had revenue of $215.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

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.