Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) Short Interest Up 5.2% in September

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,000,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the August 31st total of 19,020,000 shares. Approximately 18.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chesapeake Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 90.8% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. BOKF NA bought a new stake in Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 75.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 895.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CHK stock traded down $1.28 on Tuesday, reaching $80.97. The stock had a trading volume of 742,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970,270. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Chesapeake Energy has a 12 month low of $69.12 and a 12 month high of $93.58.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $505.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $822.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 73.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is 31.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $92.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Roth Capital upgraded Chesapeake Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho lowered their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $111.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Chesapeake Energy to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.33.

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.