Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 216,920 Shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 15.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,587,424 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 216,920 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.20% of Chesapeake Energy worth $132,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CHK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 15.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,196,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517,281 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,936,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,358,000 after acquiring an additional 166,911 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,918,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,952,000 after acquiring an additional 9,586 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,808,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,031,000 after purchasing an additional 527,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC now owns 2,714,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,425,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CHK. StockNews.com raised Chesapeake Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $102.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $144.00 to $147.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. Benchmark cut their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Chesapeake Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.82.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CHK opened at $81.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a one year low of $69.68 and a one year high of $105.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.68.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.52. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 49.82% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.06 earnings per share. Chesapeake Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 52.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is 6.25%.

Chesapeake Energy Profile

Chesapeake Energy Corporation, an independent exploration and production company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of properties to produce oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from underground reservoirs in the United States. 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.