Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.64

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 9th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This is an increase from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59.

Chesapeake Utilities has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 20 years. Chesapeake Utilities has a payout ratio of 37.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities to earn $6.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.7%.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Thursday, hitting $110.82. 59,973 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 128,310. Chesapeake Utilities has a 52-week low of $83.79 and a 52-week high of $132.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55 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.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The firm had revenue of $245.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CPK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Company 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.