Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Boosts Stock Position in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 8.9% in the first quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 133,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,299,000 after acquiring an additional 10,937 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 17.4% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 26,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,817,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Cox Capital Mgt LLC boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC now owns 10,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,179,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,740,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,809,000 after buying an additional 334,088 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on CPK shares. Barclays started coverage on Chesapeake Utilities in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Utilities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.80.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CPK traded down $1.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.74. The company had a trading volume of 23,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,654. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.38. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1-year low of $83.79 and a 1-year high of $124.72. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.23.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $245.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.78%.

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.