Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK)

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 4,299 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 63% compared to the typical volume of 2,632 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CHK shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They set a "sector weight" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chesapeake Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 233.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,059,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $804,769,000 after purchasing an additional 6,338,963 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,317,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $332,221,000 after acquiring an additional 213,235 shares during the last quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 28.8% in the second quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC now owns 3,694,879 shares of the company's stock valued at $303,682,000 after acquiring an additional 827,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 18.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,333,769 shares of the company's stock valued at $274,005,000 after acquiring an additional 510,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 13.4% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,599,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,900,000 after acquiring an additional 307,814 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CHK stock traded down $1.00 on Wednesday, hitting $71.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,357,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,866,250. The firm has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Chesapeake Energy has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $93.58.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $505.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.00% and a net margin of 8.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 73.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Chesapeake Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.00%.

About Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake Energy Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States. It engages in acquisition, exploration, and development of properties to produce oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from underground reservoirs. The company holds interests in natural gas resource plays in the Marcellus Shale in the northern Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and the Haynesville/Bossier Shales in northwestern Louisiana.