Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $1.49 Million Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $1,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2,018.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth about $182,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on 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 downgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of CPK opened at $126.70 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $122.24 and a 200-day moving average of $122.41. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70 and a beta of 0.65. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a one year low of $98.32 and a one year high of $134.20.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $215.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.84 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.16% and a return on equity of 9.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.58%.

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.