Cwm LLC Lowers Position in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Cwm LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,174 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Energy were worth $90,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,104,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,947,000 after purchasing an additional 936,169 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 18.6% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,723,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,844,000 after buying an additional 426,560 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Chesapeake Energy by 190.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 620,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,502,000 after acquiring an additional 407,082 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Chesapeake Energy by 229.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 491,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,339,000 after acquiring an additional 341,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 57.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 870,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,039,000 after acquiring an additional 319,021 shares in the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CHK. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $82.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.83.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

Shares of Chesapeake Energy stock opened at $88.62 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $86.79 and a 200 day moving average of $82.05. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $72.84 and a 52 week high of $93.58. The company has a market cap of $11.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.08). Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.87% and a net margin of 16.42%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.