Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Given New $112.00 Price Target at Benchmark

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) had its price target lifted by Benchmark from $93.00 to $112.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock.

EXE has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $119.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.35.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Down 9.5 %

EXE opened at $100.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 61.73 and a beta of 0.44. Chesapeake Energy has a 12 month low of $81.66 and a 12 month high of $114.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.45.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 2.74% and a net margin of 6.07%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of Chesapeake Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $99.50 per share, with a total value of $248,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 107,845 shares in the company, valued at $10,730,577.50. This trade represents a 2.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 58.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Chesapeake Energy Company Profile

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.