Romano Brothers AND Company Takes Position in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)

Romano Brothers AND Company bought a new position in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 26,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,900,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter valued at $43,592,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $36,507,000. Woodstock Corp purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $5,646,000. Czech National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,377,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $2,265,000. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

EXE stock traded down $2.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $116.20. 2,146,630 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,411,063. Chesapeake Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $81.66 and a 1-year high of $120.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $109.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.29. The firm has a market cap of $27.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.73 and a beta of 0.49.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 2.74% and a net margin of 6.07%. On average, analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Chesapeake Energy's payout ratio is -42.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Chesapeake Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho increased their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $137.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $131.00 to $129.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.79.

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.