Inspire Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,859,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,471,000 after purchasing an additional 118,878 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 489,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,979,000 after buying an additional 19,100 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 428,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,014,000 after buying an additional 94,980 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 61.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 275,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,529,000 after acquiring an additional 104,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 274,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,142,000 after acquiring an additional 118,561 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Chesapeake Utilities

In related news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total transaction of $1,094,037.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $949,702.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CPK opened at $122.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67 and a beta of 0.61. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 52-week low of $83.79 and a 52-week high of $125.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.70 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.78%.

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.