Chesapeake Utilities Co. (CPK) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 16th

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th.

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 21 years. Chesapeake Utilities has a payout ratio of 40.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities to earn $6.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.9%.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 2.6 %

CPK stock opened at $124.63 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $120.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63 and a beta of 0.61. Chesapeake Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $83.79 and a fifty-two week high of $128.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.02). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 13.61%. The business had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Utilities

In other news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total value of $1,094,037.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,702.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

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.