Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,307 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,927,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at $56,000. Parallel Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at $286,000. Doliver Advisors LP purchased a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $446,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $466,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EXE shares. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $93.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $123.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $133.00 to $131.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Chesapeake Energy to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.79.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

Chesapeake Energy stock traded up $1.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $117.35. 1,536,269 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,389,924. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $81.66 and a fifty-two week high of $120.04. The company has a market capitalization of $27.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.44 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's fifty day moving average is $109.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.57.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Chesapeake Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.91%.

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.