Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $3.77 Million Stock Holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,439 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.20% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $3,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,864,000 after buying an additional 4,638 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 10,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $240,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 8,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock opened at $105.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $103.79 and its 200 day moving average is $100.16. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1 year low of $83.79 and a 1 year high of $132.91.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $185.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.60 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

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.