Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $102.49 and last traded at $102.19, with a volume of 206249 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $100.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EXE shares. UBS Group raised shares of Chesapeake Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Roth Capital raised Chesapeake Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.71.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.65 and a beta of 0.52. 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 (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $648.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $708.98 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 57.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Chesapeake Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.98%.

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Energy

In related news, Director Catherine A. Kehr sold 43,623 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.58, for a total value of $4,343,978.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,201 shares in the company, valued at $517,915.58. This trade represents a 89.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 58.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.