Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $102.49 and last traded at $102.19, with a volume of 206249 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EXE shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.71.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.38 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $95.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.15. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 2.74% and a net margin of 6.07%. The business had revenue of $648.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Chesapeake Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 57.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.98%.

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Energy

In related news, Director Catherine A. Kehr sold 43,623 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.58, for a total transaction of $4,343,978.34. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,201 shares in the company, valued at $517,915.58. This represents a 89.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 58.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.