Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $115.38 and last traded at $110.39, with a volume of 2654 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $112.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EXE. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $133.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $137.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Friday, January 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $125.33.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.49 and its 200-day moving average is $101.51. The firm has a market cap of $26.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.81 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.17. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -42.91%.

Insider Activity

In other Chesapeake Energy news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $99.50 per share, with a total value of $248,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,730,577.50. This represents a 2.37% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chesapeake Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXE. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.