Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Stake Lessened by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 45.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 329 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $47,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 19.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in 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 research 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CPK opened at $126.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.26. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 14.16%. The company had revenue of $215.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.93%.

Chesapeake Utilities Company 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.