Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) Short Interest Up 5.2% in September

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,000,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the August 31st total of 19,020,000 shares. Approximately 18.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 10.6 days.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CHK stock opened at $81.46 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.46. Chesapeake Energy has a twelve month low of $69.12 and a twelve month high of $93.58.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $505.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 4.00%. The company’s revenue was down 73.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is currently 31.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CHK. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Chesapeake Energy during the second quarter worth about $956,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 3.3% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 474,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,996,000 after purchasing an additional 14,951 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 133.8% during the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 84,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,945,000 after purchasing an additional 48,348 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 4.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 72.4% during the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 141,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,623,000 after purchasing an additional 59,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $111.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Chesapeake Energy to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of Chesapeake Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chesapeake Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.92.

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.