Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 24,795 Shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK)

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities Co. (NYSE:CPK - Free Report) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,157 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 24,795 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.65% of Chesapeake Utilities worth $17,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CPK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,934,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $234,761,000 after acquiring an additional 44,692 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $5,110,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Chesapeake Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,632,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Chesapeake Utilities by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 317,752 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,559,000 after purchasing an additional 29,759 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 342.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,600,000 after buying an additional 28,673 shares during the last quarter. 83.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CPK traded down $2.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $130.49. The stock had a trading volume of 350,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 97,835. The business's 50 day moving average price is $125.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.05. Chesapeake Utilities Co. has a 1 year low of $98.32 and a 1 year high of $134.39. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $215.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $237.84 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Chesapeake Utilities Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Chesapeake Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 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.