GAMMA Investing LLC Has $29,000 Stock Position in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

GAMMA Investing LLC decreased its position in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 37.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 324 shares of the company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Energy were worth $29,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHK. Scout Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the 4th quarter worth $32,079,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 190.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 620,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,502,000 after buying an additional 407,082 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 870,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,039,000 after buying an additional 319,021 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,958,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,723,000 after buying an additional 265,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,852,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,108,311,000 after buying an additional 257,880 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CHK. 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. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.67.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Down 1.1 %

Chesapeake Energy stock opened at $82.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $72.84 and a twelve month high of $93.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $88.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.52.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.99 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 16.42% and a return on equity of 4.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.00%.

Chesapeake Energy Profile

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.