TD Cowen Upgrades Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) to “Buy”

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) was upgraded by investment analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $116.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $108.00. TD Cowen’s target price indicates a potential upside of 11.75% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on EXE. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $119.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $137.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.82.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXE opened at $103.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.15 billion, a PE ratio of 64.07 and a beta of 0.44. Chesapeake Energy has a 1-year low of $81.66 and a 1-year high of $114.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.39.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 2.74%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Chesapeake Energy

In other news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $99.50 per share, for a total transaction of $248,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 107,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,730,577.50. This represents a 2.37 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 58.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXE. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the 1st quarter worth $43,592,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $36,507,000. Woodstock Corp bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $5,646,000. Czech National Bank bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $5,377,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $2,265,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Chesapeake Energy

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.