Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 351,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.27% of Chesapeake Energy worth $27,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,852,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,108,311,000 after buying an additional 257,880 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 29.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,104,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,947,000 after buying an additional 936,169 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 18.6% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,723,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,844,000 after buying an additional 426,560 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Chesapeake Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,448,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,164,000 after buying an additional 111,294 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,315,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,476,000 after acquiring an additional 213,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup raised Chesapeake Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.83.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

CHK stock opened at $88.37 on Thursday. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $72.84 and a twelve month high of $93.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.05.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.99 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.87% and a net margin of 16.42%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This is an increase from Chesapeake Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 31.00%.

Chesapeake Energy Company Profile

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.