First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Makes New $340,000 Investment in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth $33,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Piscataqua Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at about $78,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Up 1.5%

EXE stock traded up $1.73 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $113.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 917,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,367,019. Chesapeake Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.66 and a 12 month high of $120.04. The firm's 50-day moving average is $109.54 and its 200-day moving average is $104.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $27.12 billion, a PE ratio of 70.35 and a beta of 0.49.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.17. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Chesapeake Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Chesapeake Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $137.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $93.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $126.79.

Chesapeake Energy 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.