Stephens Raises Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) Price Target to $118.00

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Stephens from $117.00 to $118.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Stephens’ target price indicates a potential upside of 53.69% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark cut their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.69.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

CHK traded up $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $76.78. The company had a trading volume of 224,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,875,441. The stock has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 2.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.31. Chesapeake Energy has a 1-year low of $72.84 and a 1-year high of $93.58.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $505.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.87% and a net margin of 16.42%. The firm’s revenue was down 73.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Chesapeake Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 233.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,059,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $804,769,000 after buying an additional 6,338,963 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,317,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,221,000 after acquiring an additional 213,235 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 13.4% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,599,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,900,000 after acquiring an additional 307,814 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Chesapeake Energy by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,958,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,723,000 after purchasing an additional 265,853 shares during the period. Finally, Cannell & Co. raised its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 824,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,459,000 after purchasing an additional 58,253 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.