Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Upgraded by Stephens to Overweight Rating

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

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on EXE. Raymond James initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $127.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.00.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

EXE opened at $107.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $103.31. Chesapeake Energy has a twelve month low of $81.66 and a twelve month high of $109.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.05 and a beta of 0.53.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last issued 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 during 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, analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Energy

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of Chesapeake Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $99.50 per share, for a total transaction of $248,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 107,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,730,577.50. This represents a 2.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 58.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.