Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.04), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $245.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.16 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 13.01%. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.04 EPS.

Chesapeake Utilities Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CPK traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $111.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 112,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,947. Chesapeake Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $83.79 and a fifty-two week high of $132.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55 and a beta of 0.60.

Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from Chesapeake Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 49.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CPK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Chesapeake Utilities from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Chesapeake Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.00.

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.