Retirement Systems of Alabama Purchases 9,765 Shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 263,236 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,765 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.20% of Chesapeake Energy worth $20,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,852,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,108,311,000 after acquiring an additional 257,880 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 29.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,104,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,947,000 after acquiring an additional 936,169 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 15.2% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,235,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,029,000 after acquiring an additional 427,181 shares during the last quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC increased its position in Chesapeake Energy by 16.2% in the third quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC now owns 3,153,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,959,000 after purchasing an additional 439,186 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in Chesapeake Energy by 18.6% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,723,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,844,000 after purchasing an additional 426,560 shares during the period. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CHK shares. Citigroup raised shares of Chesapeake Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $82.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Benchmark cut their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.73.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Performance

CHK opened at $92.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $86.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.10. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $72.84 and a 1 year high of $93.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is 13.66%.

About Chesapeake Energy

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.