Analysts Set Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) Price Target at $101.56

Shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $101.56.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet lowered Chesapeake Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Johnson Rice lowered Chesapeake Energy from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Citigroup upgraded Chesapeake Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Chesapeake Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chesapeake Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Chesapeake Energy by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 261,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,590,000 after purchasing an additional 33,660 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 204.0% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 13,370 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,510,000. Finally, Cottage Street Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,693,000. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CHK opened at $88.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.58. Chesapeake Energy has a 1-year low of $72.84 and a 1-year high of $91.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.95 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is 13.66%.

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.