Hancock Whitney Corp Cuts Stake in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Hancock Whitney Corp reduced its stake in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,769 shares of the company’s stock after selling 337 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Chesapeake Energy were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CHK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 233.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,059,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,769,000 after buying an additional 6,338,963 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,317,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,221,000 after buying an additional 213,235 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 13.4% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,599,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,900,000 after buying an additional 307,814 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,958,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,723,000 after buying an additional 265,853 shares during the period. Finally, Cannell & Co. increased its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 824,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,459,000 after buying an additional 58,253 shares during the period. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CHK. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Chesapeake Energy from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.69.

Chesapeake Energy Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of Chesapeake Energy stock traded down $2.75 on Friday, hitting $72.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,793,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,906,580. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a one year low of $71.53 and a one year high of $93.58. The stock has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.14.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $822.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 73.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 31.00%.

Chesapeake Energy 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.