Guidance Capital Inc. Sells 339 Shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Guidance Capital Inc. lowered its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 6.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,298 shares of the company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the quarter. Guidance Capital Inc.’s holdings in Chesapeake Energy were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 30.0% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 361,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,754,000 after purchasing an additional 83,432 shares in the last quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Chesapeake Energy during the third quarter worth about $425,000. Glenorchy Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 73.7% during the third quarter. Glenorchy Capital Ltd now owns 26,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,214,000 after acquiring an additional 11,424 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 125.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 35,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,919,000 after purchasing an additional 19,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 543.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

Chesapeake Energy stock remained flat at $81.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 844 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,988,923. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.18. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $69.12 and a 12-month high of $93.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.47.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $505.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 4.00%. The firm’s revenue was down 73.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CHK shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $93.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Scotiabank lowered their price target on 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. Mizuho cut their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $111.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.92.

About Chesapeake Energy

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.