Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $123.22.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EXE. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp upgraded Chesapeake Energy from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised Chesapeake Energy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Energy

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $99.50 per share, with a total value of $248,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,730,577.50. This represents a 2.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 58.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank purchased a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at about $58,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ EXE traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $105.30. 1,986,284 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,504,878. Chesapeake Energy has a 52-week low of $81.66 and a 52-week high of $114.03. The company has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a PE ratio of 65.00 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $104.23 and its 200-day moving average is $99.72.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. Equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Chesapeake Energy's payout ratio is -55.83%.

About Chesapeake Energy

Expand Energy Corporation is an independent natural gas producer principally in the United States. Expand Energy Corporation, formerly known as Chesapeake Energy Corporation, is based in OKLAHOMA CITY.