Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $93.00 to $112.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Chesapeake Energy traded as high as $112.23 and last traded at $111.32, with a volume of 3077151 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $110.94.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on EXE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Stephens raised shares of Chesapeake Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.35.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chesapeake Energy news, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $99.50 per share, for a total transaction of $248,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 107,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,730,577.50. This trade represents a 2.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 58.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Down 9.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 61.73 and a beta of 0.44. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $104.45.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

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