Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $107.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Chesapeake Energy traded as high as $109.62 and last traded at $109.34, with a volume of 3109566 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $108.56.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on EXE. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stephens upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $86.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $119.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $133.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Energy

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $99.50 per share, with a total value of $248,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 107,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,730,577.50. This represents a 2.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 58.00% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Down 1.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.27 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $103.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. Analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -55.83%.

Chesapeake Energy Company Profile

Expand Energy Corporation is an independent natural gas producer principally in the United States. Expand Energy Corporation, formerly known as Chesapeake Energy Corporation, is based in OKLAHOMA CITY.