Argent Capital Management LLC Has $341,000 Stake in Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Argent Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 60.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,213 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.8% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 28,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 5.9% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 12,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 76.1% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 274,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,142,000 after purchasing an additional 118,561 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Chesapeake Utilities

In related news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of Chesapeake Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total transaction of $1,094,037.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at $949,702.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

CPK traded up $2.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $116.88. The stock had a trading volume of 79,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 120,475. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1 year low of $83.79 and a 1 year high of $120.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $112.33 and a 200 day moving average of $108.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.46.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.70 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 13.90%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.20.

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.