Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Holdings in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 31,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,408,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,958 shares of the company's stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 44.0% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,070 shares of the company's stock worth $2,442,000 after buying an additional 8,578 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 20,980.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the company's stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 287,074 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,976,000 after buying an additional 112,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter worth $569,000. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CHK. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet cut Chesapeake Energy from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set a "sector weight" rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho restated a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.58.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHK traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.15. 907,294 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,094,774. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $72.84 and a twelve month high of $91.03. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $84.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The company has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.52.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $962.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.22 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.66%.

Chesapeake Energy Company Profile

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.