Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 203,139,837 shares, an increase of 5.9% from the June 15th total of 191,891,780 shares. Approximately 22.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 37,569,695 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days.
Shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE CHK) opened at 5.06 on Friday. Chesapeake Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $4.38 and a 1-year high of $8.20. The company’s market cap is $4.51 billion. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.55.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.04. Chesapeake Energy Corporation had a negative return on equity of 7.64% and a negative net margin of 35.84%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.10) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Chesapeake Energy Corporation will post $0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Vetr downgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.23 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday. SunTrust Banks, Inc. restated a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Jefferies Group LLC set a $6.00 target price on shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 6th. Finally, Macquarie downgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $3.93 to $4.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.66.
In other Chesapeake Energy Corporation news, Director Thomas L. Ryan purchased 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 440,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,201,775. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director R Brad Martin purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.26 per share, for a total transaction of $105,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 501,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,640,299.08. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 115,400 shares of company stock worth $573,020. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation by 96.4% in the first quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 65,475,640 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $388,926,000 after buying an additional 32,145,200 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation during the fourth quarter valued at about $56,791,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy Corporation by 8.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,145,308 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $541,403,000 after buying an additional 6,948,058 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Chesapeake Energy Corporation by 6.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,785,695 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $260,083,000 after buying an additional 2,476,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schneider Capital Management Corp raised its stake in Chesapeake Energy Corporation by 34.1% in the first quarter. Schneider Capital Management Corp now owns 7,534,855 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $44,757,000 after buying an additional 1,918,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.87% of the company’s stock.
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About Chesapeake Energy Corporation
Chesapeake Energy Corporation produces natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. It operates in two segments: Exploration and Production, and Marketing, Gathering and Compression. Exploration and production is engaged in finding and producing oil, natural gas and NGL. Marketing, gathering and compression is engaged in marketing, gathering and compression of oil, natural gas and NGL.
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