Traders Buy High Volume of Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) Put Options

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK – Get a Free Report ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 4,299 put options on the stock. This represents a 63% increase from the average daily volume of 2,632 put options.

Chesapeake Energy trading down 1.4%

Shares of CHK stock opened at $71.98 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.33, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Chesapeake Energy has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $93.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $77.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.59. The firm has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 0.47.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK – Get Your Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 4.00%. The firm had revenue of $505.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $822.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted EPS of $0.64. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 73.3% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts predict that Chesapeake Energy will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy cuts dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a dividend of $2.30 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.00%.

Institutional investors are weighing in on Chesapeake Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Chesapeake Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 71,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,526,000 after buying an additional 10,133 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 263,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,253,000 after purchasing an additional 9,765 shares during the period. Finally, Cannell & Co. raised its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 824,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,459,000 after purchasing an additional 58,253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s shares.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the company. 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 report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.17, according to MarketBeat.

See the latest stock analysis on CHK

About Chesapeake Energy

(Get a free report)

Chesapeake Energy Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States. It engages in the acquisition, exploration and development of properties to produce oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids from underground reservoirs. The company owns interests in natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale in the northern Appalachian Basin of Pennsylvania and the Haynesville/Bossier Shales in northwestern Louisiana.

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