Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) to Issue $0.64 Quarterly Dividend

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, April 7th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th.

Chesapeake Utilities has increased its dividend 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 37.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities to earn $6.25 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 41.0%.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:CPK opened at $128.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10 and a beta of 0.60. Chesapeake Utilities has a 12 month low of $98.32 and a 12 month high of $134.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $123.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.11.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.04). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 14.16%. The company had revenue of $215.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CPK. StockNews.com raised Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

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.