Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Upgraded to Overweight at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Stephens currently has $123.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $86.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on EXE. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Friday, January 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.00.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of EXE opened at $107.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a PE ratio of 66.05 and a beta of 0.53. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $103.31. Chesapeake Energy has a 1 year low of $81.66 and a 1 year high of $109.47.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 2.74% and a net margin of 6.07%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -55.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Energy

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $99.50 per share, for a total transaction of $248,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,845 shares in the company, valued at $10,730,577.50. This trade represents a 2.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 58.00% of the company’s stock.

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.