Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $1.08 Million in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,078,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.06% of Chesapeake Utilities as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 59.8% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Down 1.4 %

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $100.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.79 and a fifty-two week high of $132.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $103.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.70.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $185.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $234.60 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 13.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.89%.

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.