Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $101.46 and last traded at $99.84, with a volume of 2637662 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $96.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EXE shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.71.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $23.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.45 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $94.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $648.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.98 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 2.74% and a net margin of 6.07%. The business’s revenue was down 57.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.98%.

Insider Transactions at Chesapeake Energy

In other news, Director Catherine A. Kehr sold 43,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,915.58. This represents a 89.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 58.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.