Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) Short Interest Up 5.2% in September

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,000,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the August 31st total of 19,020,000 shares. Approximately 18.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CHK. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 90.8% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 895.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CHK. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $111.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Roth Capital raised shares of Chesapeake Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.33.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Down 1.6 %

CHK traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $80.97. 742,812 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,970,270. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.61. Chesapeake Energy has a 1-year low of $69.12 and a 1-year high of $93.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $505.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.00% and a net margin of 8.68%. Chesapeake Energy’s revenue was down 73.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Chesapeake Energy’s 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.