Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK Holdings Cut by Dean Capital Management

Dean Capital Management lowered its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) by 39.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,984 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $2,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CPK. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 29,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA increased its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 4,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays set a $142.00 target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Down 0.0%

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $135.74 on Monday. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a one year low of $118.83 and a one year high of $140.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $125.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 0.69.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $353.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.86 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 15.11%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2028 guidance at 7.750-8.00 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.735 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is an increase from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.12%.

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Utilities

In other news, SVP Kevin J. Webber sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.37, for a total value of $254,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,611,485.24. The trade was a 13.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffry M. Householder sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.12, for a total transaction of $1,261,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,945,686.12. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Profile

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK) is a diversified energy services holding company headquartered in Dover, Delaware. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company engages in natural gas distribution, transmission and storage; propane distribution; wholesale propane supply; and contract compression and natural gas liquids processing. Its core mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective energy solutions to residential, commercial and industrial customers across multiple U.S.