Public Sector Pension Investment Board Cuts Holdings in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board decreased its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,027 shares of the company’s stock after selling 945 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Chesapeake Energy were worth $1,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 233.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC raised its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 28.8% in the second quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC now owns 3,694,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,682,000 after buying an additional 827,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 18.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,333,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,005,000 after buying an additional 510,664 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 247.9% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 687,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,543,000 after buying an additional 490,201 shares during the period. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy during the fourth quarter worth $32,079,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Capital upgraded Chesapeake Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Friday, September 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.92.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ CHK opened at $81.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.59. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $69.12 and a 1 year high of $93.58. The company has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.46.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $505.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 4.00%. Chesapeake Energy’s revenue was down 73.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.