Picton Mahoney Asset Management Invests $420,000 in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $420,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY grew its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 126.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the third quarter worth about $52,000. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CPK. StockNews.com lowered Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of 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 given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of CPK stock opened at $110.76 on Thursday. 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 $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a one year low of $83.79 and a one year high of $132.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.22.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 13.01%. The firm had revenue of $245.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.89%.

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.