Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $104.73.

Several research firms recently commented on CHK. Barclays began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Chesapeake Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 9,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 7.6% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ CHK opened at $90.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $11.86 billion, a PE ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.07. Chesapeake Energy has a 52 week low of $72.84 and a 52 week high of $91.03.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.95 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 6.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.66%.

About Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake Energy Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States. It engages in acquisition, exploration, and development of properties to produce oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from underground reservoirs. The company holds interests in natural gas resource plays in the Marcellus Shale in the northern Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and the Haynesville/Bossier Shales in northwestern Louisiana.