Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK Shares Sold by Copeland Capital Management LLC

Copeland Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 478,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 26,455 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Utilities accounts for about 1.3% of Copeland Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Copeland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $59,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tufton Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 94,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,796,000 after buying an additional 23,304 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 365,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,581,000 after buying an additional 41,592 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $2,880,000. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $3,314,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 12,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 2.7%

NYSE CPK opened at $127.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $130.05 and a 200 day moving average of $130.07. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a 1 year low of $115.24 and a 1 year high of $140.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $258.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.59 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2028 guidance at 7.750-8.000 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.685 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 45.82%.

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.