Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.04), Briefing.com reports. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $245.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:CPK traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $111.18. 3,596 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 127,555. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $104.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.29. Chesapeake Utilities has a 12 month low of $83.79 and a 12 month high of $132.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. This is an increase from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is 49.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on 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 upped their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.