State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 9,713 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,713 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $1,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 29,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,139,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 1.5 %

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $124.11 on Tuesday. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1-year low of $83.79 and a 1-year high of $125.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.71.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $194.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 53.78%.

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Utilities

In other news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total transaction of $1,094,037.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $949,702.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.