Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Takes Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.4% during the third quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 10,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 61,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,507,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CPK. StockNews.com lowered shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $105.13 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.16. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 12 month low of $83.79 and a 12 month high of $132.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.11. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The company had revenue of $185.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. Chesapeake Utilities’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is 49.89%.

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.