Retirement Systems of Alabama Grows Stake in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 263,236 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,765 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.20% of Chesapeake Energy worth $20,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $621,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 11.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 7.6% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 13.5% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 4,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 215.0% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,072 shares of the company's stock worth $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 9,604 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CHK. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a "sector weight" rating for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $119.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.73.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

CHK stock traded down $3.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $89.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,013,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,032,395. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $72.84 and a 1 year high of $93.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.52. The company's fifty day moving average is $86.43 and its 200-day moving average is $82.10.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.22 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.