Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) Shares Up 0.5%

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $89.34 and last traded at $89.01. 196,807 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 2,023,756 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CHK. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.58.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Up 2.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.01.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.95 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 6.74%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.22 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is currently 13.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chesapeake Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CHK. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the third quarter worth $36,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter worth $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the third quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

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.