Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Price Target Raised to $154.00

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $137.00 to $154.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James began coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Friday, January 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.71.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

EXE opened at $110.94 on Thursday. Chesapeake Energy has a twelve month low of $81.66 and a twelve month high of $111.18. The company has a market cap of $25.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.48 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Chesapeake Energy

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $99.50 per share, with a total value of $248,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,730,577.50. The trade was a 2.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 58.00% of the stock is owned by 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.