Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 354,320 Shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK – Get Rating) by 13.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,196,827 shares of the company’s stock after selling 354,320 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Chesapeake Energy were worth $206,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Seaport Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Seaport Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC raised its position in Chesapeake Energy by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Chesapeake Energy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC raised its position in Chesapeake Energy by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 3,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Chesapeake Energy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of CHK stock opened at $72.07 on Friday. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $69.68 and a 1-year high of $107.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.68.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.96 by $1.26. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 37.70% and a net margin of 42.03%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 6th. This represents a yield of 2.4%. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is presently 6.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CHK. Citigroup began coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Chesapeake Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $117.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $155.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.70.

Chesapeake Energy Profile

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Chesapeake Energy Corporation, an independent exploration and production company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of properties for the production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from underground reservoirs in the United States. 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; and the liquids-rich resource play in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.