Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 134,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,427,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.56% of Chesapeake Utilities as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the second quarter worth $1,412,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,107,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,069,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha bought a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth about $485,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of CPK stock opened at $132.51 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $131.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.00. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a 52 week low of $118.88 and a 52 week high of $140.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.02). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 15.12%.The company had revenue of $201.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.750-8.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 6.42 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, October 5th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th will be issued a $0.735 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 14th. This represents a $2.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 46.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CPK shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.00.

About Chesapeake Utilities

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK) is a diversified energy services holding company headquartered in Dover, Delaware. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company engages in natural gas distribution, transmission and storage; propane distribution; wholesale propane supply; and contract compression and natural gas liquids processing. Its core mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective energy solutions to residential, commercial and industrial customers across multiple U.S.