Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Reduces Stock Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,222,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $152,513,000 after purchasing an additional 11,068 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 516,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,157,000 after purchasing an additional 8,358 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 495,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,090,000 after purchasing an additional 12,889 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 287,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,760,000 after purchasing an additional 14,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 269,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,751,000 after purchasing an additional 10,822 shares in the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

CPK stock opened at $127.24 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $98.32 and a 52 week high of $134.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $122.41 and its 200 day moving average is $122.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81 and a beta of 0.60.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $237.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. Research analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 48.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on CPK shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

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.