Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.08), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.99 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.89% and a net margin of 16.42%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 EPS.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHK opened at $86.68 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.10. Chesapeake Energy has a 1-year low of $72.84 and a 1-year high of $93.58. The firm has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Chesapeake Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 31.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHK has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens increased their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.83.

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.