Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Makes New Investment in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,141,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $127,038,000. Chesapeake Energy makes up approximately 1.3% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.49% of Chesapeake Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXE. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter valued at $43,592,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,507,000. Mercuria Capital Strategies LLC bought a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $35,283,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $18,777,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $11,682,000. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EXE shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $131.00 to $129.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $127.05.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Up 1.9%

EXE stock traded up $2.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $118.72. 888,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,356,815. Chesapeake Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $81.66 and a 52-week high of $120.04. The stock's fifty day moving average is $110.17 and its 200-day moving average is $105.18. The company has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.18 and a beta of 0.49. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.17. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued 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 1.94%. Chesapeake Energy's dividend payout ratio is -42.91%.

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.