Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Price Target Raised to $103.00 at Piper Sandler

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Piper Sandler from $101.00 to $103.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays raised shares of Chesapeake Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $122.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.22.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXE traded up $0.51 on Tuesday, reaching $104.91. 343,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,493,619. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Chesapeake Energy has a one year low of $81.66 and a one year high of $114.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.41 billion, a PE ratio of 64.69 and a beta of 0.44. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $104.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.50.

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

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Chesapeake Energy's payout ratio is -55.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chesapeake Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $127,038,000. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter worth about $79,015,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter valued at about $60,722,000. Rhumbline Advisers bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,592,000. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,235,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.