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

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) by 24.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CPK. 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 valued at $183,809,000 after buying an additional 334,088 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,265,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 234,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,823,000 after acquiring an additional 135,462 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Chesapeake Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,227,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 228,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,137,000 after acquiring an additional 85,801 shares during the period. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Chesapeake Utilities from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Barclays initiated coverage on Chesapeake Utilities in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.80.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CPK traded down $1.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.74. 23,597 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 123,654. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.23. 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 52-week low of $83.79 and a 52-week high of $124.72.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $245.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.16 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 10.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This is a boost from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Chesapeake Utilities’s payout ratio is 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.