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

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.92.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $108.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $111.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $93.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHK opened at $81.46 on Friday. Chesapeake Energy has a 12 month low of $69.12 and a 12 month high of $93.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.45. The company has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.01). Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 4.00%. The firm had revenue of $505.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $822.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 73.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 12.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,372 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Chesapeake Energy by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 318,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,185,000 after buying an additional 34,095 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 5,319.6% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 10,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 10,320 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 161.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 8,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 5,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.