Short Interest in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) Declines By 7.0%

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) saw a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,530,000 shares, a drop of 7.0% from the July 31st total of 22,080,000 shares. Approximately 18.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 12.2 days.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHK opened at $72.19 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.46 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Chesapeake Energy has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $93.58.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.00% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $505.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $822.54 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 73.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Chesapeake Energy’s payout ratio is 31.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CHK. Aurora Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 1.1% during the first quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 11,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,060,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 90.8% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 1.3% during the second quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 13,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,142,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 1.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 32.4% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CHK shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.17.

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.