Chesapeake Energy’s (EXE) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $86.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on EXE. UBS Group raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $119.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Friday, January 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.94.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXE opened at $96.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a PE ratio of 59.41 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $103.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00. Chesapeake Energy has a fifty-two week low of $81.66 and a fifty-two week high of $109.47.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is currently -55.83%.

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Energy

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $99.50 per share, for a total transaction of $248,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,730,577.50. This trade represents a 2.37 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 58.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.