Jennison Associates LLC Reduces Position in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 197,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,179 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.15% of Chesapeake Energy worth $15,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the third quarter worth $621,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 11.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 204.0% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 13,370 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 4.5% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 20.8% during the third quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 6,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CHK opened at $91.47 on Friday. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $72.84 and a 1 year high of $91.54. The firm has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.14.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.89. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark reduced their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup upgraded Chesapeake Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.73.

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.