Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $122.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $115.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $122.71.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of EXE traded up $1.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $106.49. The stock had a trading volume of 3,549,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,533,406. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.73 and a beta of 0.44. Chesapeake Energy has a fifty-two week low of $81.66 and a fifty-two week high of $114.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.09.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Chesapeake Energy's payout ratio is presently -55.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of Chesapeake Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $99.50 per share, with a total value of $248,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,845 shares in the company, valued at $10,730,577.50. The trade was a 2.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 58.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Chesapeake Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at about $36,507,000. Czech National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,377,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $466,000. Romano Brothers AND Company acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,900,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at $2,265,000. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

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.