Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,467,225 shares of the company's stock after selling 44,648 shares during the period. Chesapeake Energy accounts for approximately 2.0% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 1.12% of Chesapeake Energy worth $112,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Chesapeake Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 188,830 shares of the company's stock worth $14,529,000 after acquiring an additional 2,820 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 9,439 shares of the company's stock worth $716,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,761 shares of the company's stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 160.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 730 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 93.8% in the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 7,750 shares of the company's stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 3,750 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

Chesapeake Energy stock traded up $0.19 on Friday, hitting $89.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,879,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,925,092. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $82.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.65. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a one year low of $72.84 and a one year high of $91.03. The firm has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.89. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 6.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy's payout ratio is currently 13.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CHK shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, January 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. TheStreet cut shares of Chesapeake Energy from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Johnson Rice cut shares of Chesapeake Energy from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $101.56.

About Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake Energy Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States. It engages in acquisition, exploration, and development of properties to produce oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from underground reservoirs. The company holds interests in natural gas resource plays in the Marcellus Shale in the northern Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and the Haynesville/Bossier Shales in northwestern Louisiana.