UBS Group Cuts Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) Price Target to $85.00

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) had its target price trimmed by UBS Group from $93.00 to $85.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Chesapeake Energy to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $111.00 to $105.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $105.92.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHK opened at $78.46 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.62 and a 200 day moving average of $82.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 0.46. Chesapeake Energy has a 12 month low of $69.12 and a 12 month high of $93.58.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 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 the consensus estimate of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 4.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 73.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is 31.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chesapeake Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $956,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 3.3% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 474,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,996,000 after acquiring an additional 14,951 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 133.8% during the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 84,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,945,000 after purchasing an additional 48,348 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 4.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 72.4% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 141,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,623,000 after purchasing an additional 59,400 shares during the period. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.