Argent Capital Management LLC Acquires 484 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 15.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,740,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,809,000 after purchasing an additional 334,088 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 17.4% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 26,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,817,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 8.9% during the first quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 133,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,299,000 after purchasing an additional 10,937 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 24.2% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 5,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Utilities

In related news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total value of $1,094,037.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,702.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CPK traded down $0.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $120.59. 5,996 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 114,199. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39 and a beta of 0.61. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 12-month low of $83.79 and a 12-month high of $125.34.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.70 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.