Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $142.00.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CPK. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Mizuho set a $150.00 target price on Chesapeake Utilities and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of CPK traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $130.45. 7,555 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 157,343. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $132.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.92. Chesapeake Utilities has a 12-month low of $118.88 and a 12-month high of $140.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80 and a beta of 0.67.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced 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 business had revenue of $201.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.91 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $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. Research analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.735 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 14th. This represents a $2.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is 46.89%.

Institutional Trading of Chesapeake Utilities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CPK. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the second quarter valued at approximately $459,185,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 13,646.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,282,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,036,000 after purchasing an additional 3,258,585 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 831.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 511,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $68,884,000 after purchasing an additional 456,497 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,935,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 27.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 952,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,231,000 after buying an additional 205,742 shares during the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chesapeake Utilities Company Profile

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.