Vest Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 104,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,682,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXE. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Chesapeake Energy during the first quarter worth $36,507,000. Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at $286,000. Doliver Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at $446,000. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy in the first quarter valued at $466,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

EXE stock opened at $117.35 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Chesapeake Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.66 and a 12-month high of $120.04. The company has a market capitalization of $27.93 billion, a PE ratio of 72.44 and a beta of 0.49.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.17. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 2.74% and a net margin of 6.07%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens reduced their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $123.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $115.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $133.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Chesapeake Energy to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $93.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Chesapeake Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.79.

Chesapeake Energy Profile

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.