Private Advisor Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its position in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 8.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,901 shares of the company’s stock after selling 629 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Energy were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 233.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,059,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,769,000 after buying an additional 6,338,963 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the fourth quarter worth $32,079,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 307,814 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth about $19,639,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $19,550,000. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $93.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens lifted their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.92.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

CHK stock opened at $74.51 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.79. The firm has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $69.12 and a 1 year high of $93.58.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 4.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 73.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.