Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Rating Increased to Overweight at KeyCorp

KeyCorp upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) from a sector weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. KeyCorp currently has $130.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on EXE. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Friday, January 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank raised Chesapeake Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chesapeake Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.11.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

Shares of EXE stock opened at $102.24 on Monday. Chesapeake Energy has a one year low of $81.66 and a one year high of $114.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.30. The firm has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.11 and a beta of 0.44.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The business 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, equities research analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is -55.83%.

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Energy

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $99.50 per share, for a total transaction of $248,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,730,577.50. This trade represents a 2.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 58.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chesapeake Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXE. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,507,000. Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Doliver Advisors LP acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth $446,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth $466,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Energy Company Profile

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.