Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) Earns Sector Weight Rating from Analysts at KeyCorp

KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm issued a sector weight rating on the stock.

CHK has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an equal weight rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $106.67.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Chesapeake Energy stock opened at $82.19 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.69. Chesapeake Energy has a 52-week low of $72.84 and a 52-week high of $93.58. The firm has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 2.33.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.08). Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.87% and a net margin of 16.42%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a $0.715 dividend. This is a boost from Chesapeake Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CHK. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Energy during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 90.8% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

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.