UBS Group Upgrades Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) to Buy

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) was upgraded by UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $123.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $94.00. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 26.78% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on EXE. Stephens raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Roth Capital upgraded Chesapeake Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.14.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

Chesapeake Energy stock opened at $97.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.42 billion, a PE ratio of 59.89 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.45. Chesapeake Energy has a 1-year low of $69.12 and a 1-year high of $101.27.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $648.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.98 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 2.74% and a net margin of 6.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 57.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Energy

In other news, Director Catherine A. Kehr sold 43,623 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.58, for a total transaction of $4,343,978.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,915.58. This represents a 89.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 58.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Chesapeake Energy

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.