Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 31,300 Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 31,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,408,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CHK. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 478.3% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 132.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 292.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CHK. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.58.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

CHK opened at $87.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $72.84 and a 12 month high of $91.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.88.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.95 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.66%.

Chesapeake Energy Profile

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.