Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $105.33 and last traded at $105.13, with a volume of 132067 shares. The stock had previously closed at $104.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on EXE shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Tuesday. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group raised shares of Chesapeake Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $123.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.50.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

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 $24.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.96 and a beta of 0.52. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $97.97.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $648.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $708.98 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 57.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Chesapeake Energy's payout ratio is presently 141.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Energy

In other Chesapeake Energy news, Director Catherine A. Kehr sold 43,623 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.58, for a total value of $4,343,978.34. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $517,915.58. The trade was a 89.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 58.00% 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.