Fifth Third Bancorp Lowers Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CPK. State Street Corp lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,222,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $152,513,000 after purchasing an additional 11,068 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 592,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,567,000 after buying an additional 51,164 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 516,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,157,000 after buying an additional 8,358 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 300,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,320,000 after acquiring an additional 26,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 5.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 287,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,760,000 after acquiring an additional 14,430 shares in the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $122.23 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a twelve month low of $98.25 and a twelve month high of $134.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79 and a beta of 0.65.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $160.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.80 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 14.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CPK. StockNews.com downgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

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.