Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.72

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.715 per share on Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This is a boost from Chesapeake Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58.

Chesapeake Energy has a payout ratio of 29.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Chesapeake Energy to earn $5.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.6%.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

CHK stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $86.54. 655,294 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,039,068. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.10. Chesapeake Energy has a one year low of $72.84 and a one year high of $93.58. The company has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 0.51. 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 (NASDAQ:CHK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.08). Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 16.42% and a return on equity of 4.89%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CHK shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $119.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

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.