J.P. Morgan Reiterates Underweight Rating, $15.50 PT on Chesapeake Energy Corporation

In a report published Wednesday, J.P. Morgan & Co. reiterated its Underweight rating and $15.50 price target on Chesapeake Energy Corporation

. J.P. Morgan noted, “CHK announced that, by YE12, it will sell the majority of its midstream business to Access Midstream Partners for $2.16 Bn. It also expects to sell, during 1Q13, its remaining midstream assets, also to Access, for $425 MM (no purchase and sale agreement yet), making the total sale $2.585 Bn. This transaction, though $100 MM lower than CHK had previously disclosed, enables the company to avoid an immediate liquidity pinch. Chesapeake still has a lot of assets to sell to avoid further liquidity issues during 2013. Valuation wise the stock is not cheap, and the company still has financial risk, so we maintain our Underweight rating.” Chesapeake Energy Corporation closed on Tuesday at $17.09.