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

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $107.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Chesapeake Energy traded as high as $109.62 and last traded at $109.34, with a volume of 3109566 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $108.56.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on EXE. Truist Financial cut their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $133.00 to $131.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $127.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Friday, January 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $119.12.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $99.50 per share, with a total value of $248,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 58.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

The business's fifty day moving average is $103.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.35 and a beta of 0.53.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2 billion during 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, analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Chesapeake Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.