Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 110,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,632 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $13,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,222,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $152,513,000 after buying an additional 11,068 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 516,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,157,000 after buying an additional 8,358 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 495,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,090,000 after buying an additional 12,889 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 5.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 287,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,760,000 after buying an additional 14,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 259,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,168,000 after buying an additional 7,666 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CPK opened at $126.34 on Thursday. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 12-month low of $98.32 and a 12-month high of $134.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 0.65. 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’s 50-day moving average is $121.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.22.

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

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CPK. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average 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.