Chesapeake Energy Co. (CHK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.58 on September 5th

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 29th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of 0.575 per share on Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th.

Chesapeake Energy has a payout ratio of 41.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Chesapeake Energy to earn $5.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.3%.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:CHK traded up $0.29 on Wednesday, reaching $76.53. The stock had a trading volume of 119,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,888,619. The company has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 2.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $84.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.26. Chesapeake Energy has a 12-month low of $72.84 and a 12-month high of $93.58.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $505.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 3.99% and a net margin of 8.68%. The company’s revenue was down 73.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CHK. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.69.

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.