Chesapeake logs a profit

Article Excerpt

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY $4.00 (New York symbol CHK; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-848-8000; www.chk.com; Shares outstanding: 908.1 million; Market cap: $3.6 billion; No dividends paid) is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the U.S. and its 12th largest producer of oil and gas liquids. The company has sold off non-core assets to focus on its low-risk, high-return properties. Those moves have cut its operating costs. They’ve also helped lead Chesapeake to a profit of $0.18 a share for the quarter ended June 30, 2017. It lost $0.16 a year earlier. The oil and gas producer’s long-term debt of $9.9 billion remains a high 2.8 times its $3.6 billion market cap. That adds risk. However, most of that debt is at fixed interest rates, which reduces Chesapeake’s exposure to rising rates. Chesapeake Energy is a buy. buy…