New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $6.37 Million Stake in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 82,789 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,892 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Chesapeake Energy were worth $6,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 478.3% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Chesapeake Energy by 132.1% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 362 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 292.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CHK shares. Benchmark lowered their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.58.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

CHK opened at $88.59 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.90. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $72.84 and a 1-year high of $91.03. The stock has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.89. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 6.74%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is 13.66%.

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.