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

Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of 0.64 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th.

Chesapeake Utilities has raised its dividend by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Chesapeake Utilities has a payout ratio of 40.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Chesapeake Utilities to earn $6.26 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 40.9%.

Chesapeake Utilities Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CPK traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $124.63. The company had a trading volume of 106,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,384. The business's 50 day moving average price is $120.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.67. Chesapeake Utilities has a 1-year low of $83.79 and a 1-year high of $128.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63 and a beta of 0.61.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.02). Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 13.61%. The company had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Chesapeake Utilities

In other Chesapeake Utilities news, Director Paul L. Maddock, Jr. sold 9,634 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at $949,702.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CPK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th.

Chesapeake Utilities Company Profile

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.