Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Holdings in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its stake in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 329,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,411 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.25% of Chesapeake Energy worth $27,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 233.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,059,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,769,000 after acquiring an additional 6,338,963 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,119,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,582,000 after acquiring an additional 292,586 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,333,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,005,000 after acquiring an additional 510,664 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,599,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,900,000 after acquiring an additional 307,814 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 640,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,272,000 after buying an additional 2,206 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on CHK shares. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $93.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.92.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CHK opened at $76.57 on Friday. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $69.12 and a 12-month high of $93.58. The company has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.85 and a 200 day moving average of $82.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.00% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $505.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $822.54 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 73.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.00%.

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.