Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 119.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 8,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 4,763 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the second quarter valued at approximately $526,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,027,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 540,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,943,000 after buying an additional 21,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on CPK shares. Barclays set a $141.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Chesapeake Utilities in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, CFO Beth W. Cooper sold 5,000 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.15, for a total value of $660,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 90,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,722.95. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE CPK opened at $134.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01 and a beta of 0.79. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a 52-week low of $115.12 and a 52-week high of $140.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $131.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.08). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.150-6.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.685 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.50%.

About Chesapeake Utilities

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.