Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $102.49 and last traded at $102.19, with a volume of 206249 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $100.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on EXE. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Chesapeake Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $94.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Stephens upped their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho increased their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.71.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.61. The stock has a market cap of $23.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.91 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

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

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Catherine A. Kehr sold 43,623 shares of Chesapeake Energy 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $517,915.58. This trade represents a 89.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 58.00% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.