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

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $112.23 and last traded at $111.32, with a volume of 3077151 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $110.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $133.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. TD Cowen began coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $119.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a report on Friday, January 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.71.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $104.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of 68.72 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is -55.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $99.50 per share, for a total transaction of $248,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 107,845 shares in the company, valued at $10,730,577.50. This represents a 2.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 58.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Chesapeake Energy Company Profile

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.