Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 548,600 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the August 31st total of 511,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 119,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Utilities

In related news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total transaction of $1,094,037.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $949,702.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chesapeake Utilities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 22,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth about $238,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 409.4% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 13,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 10,914 shares during the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:CPK opened at $123.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities has a 52-week low of $83.79 and a 52-week high of $125.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.02). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.70 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 53.78%.

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.