Chesapeake Energy Co. (CHK) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 15th

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of 0.715 per share on Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This is a boost from Chesapeake Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58.

Chesapeake Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 29.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Chesapeake Energy to earn $5.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.6%.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CHK traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $86.54. The company had a trading volume of 655,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,039,068. Chesapeake Energy has a 12 month low of $72.84 and a 12 month high of $93.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.10.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.99 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.89% and a net margin of 16.42%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark dropped 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 Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.83.

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.