Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) Given New $115.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) had its target price lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $118.00 to $115.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CHK. Benchmark reduced their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered Chesapeake Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Johnson Rice lowered Chesapeake Energy from a buy rating to an accumulate rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Energy currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $103.58.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

CHK opened at $88.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.52. Chesapeake Energy has a 52-week low of $72.84 and a 52-week high of $91.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.50 and its 200-day moving average is $81.89.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.89. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for 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 prior year, the firm posted $4.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is 13.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chesapeake Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 9,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $716,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 6.2% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chesapeake Energy Company 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.