Wall Street analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK) to announce $0.50 earnings per share for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks. Two analysts have issued estimates for Chesapeake Utilities’ earnings, with the lowest EPS estimate coming in at $0.45 and the highest estimate coming in at $0.52. Chesapeake Utilities reported earnings per share of $0.37 during the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 35.1%. The company is scheduled to report its next earnings report on Thursday, August 2nd.
According to Zacks, analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities will report full year earnings of $3.49 per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from $3.42 to $3.55. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the firm will report earnings of $3.78 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $3.70 to $3.95. Zacks’ earnings per share calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that that provide coverage for Chesapeake Utilities.
Get Chesapeake Utilities alerts:
Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.04. Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 10.64%.
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 23rd. Sidoti raised shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 19th.
CPK traded up $1.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.30. 123,794 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,541. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Chesapeake Utilities has a 1 year low of $66.35 and a 1 year high of $86.35. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.21.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 5th. Investors of record on Friday, June 15th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This is a boost from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 14th. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.
In other news, insider John R. Schimkaitis sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $177,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider P. Mcmasters Michael sold 7,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.14, for a total value of $529,812.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,676 shares of company stock valued at $1,802,443. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPK. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,049,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,831,000 after purchasing an additional 29,011 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 538,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,901,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 344,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,085,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 332,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,096,000 after purchasing an additional 29,037 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 230,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,102,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.88% of the company’s stock.
Chesapeake Utilities Company Profile
Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, a diversified energy company, engages in regulated and unregulated energy businesses. The company operates in two segments, Regulated Energy and Unregulated Energy. The Regulated Energy segment engages in the distribution of natural gas in Delaware, Maryland, and Florida; distribution of electricity in Florida; and transmission of natural gas on the Delmarva Peninsula and in Florida.
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Chesapeake Utilities (CPK)
For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com
