Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.69.

Several brokerages recently commented on CHK. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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 report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens increased their price objective 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chesapeake Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 233.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,059,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,769,000 after acquiring an additional 6,338,963 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,317,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,221,000 after acquiring an additional 213,235 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,599,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,900,000 after acquiring an additional 307,814 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,958,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,723,000 after acquiring an additional 265,853 shares during the period. Finally, Cannell & Co. grew its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 824,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,459,000 after acquiring an additional 58,253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

CHK stock opened at $72.43 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.07. Chesapeake Energy has a one year low of $71.47 and a one year high of $93.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 2.16.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $505.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 4.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 73.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is 31.00%.

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.