Janus Henderson Group PLC Grows Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 61.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 275,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,850 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 1.24% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $29,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CPK. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 308.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 126.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CPK shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.80.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE CPK traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $118.45. 12,658 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 122,970. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1-year low of $83.79 and a 1-year high of $120.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.46.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $245.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 5th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is an increase from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.78%.

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.