Is Chesapeake The Shining Gem In Today's Oil Slick?


27% profits every 20 days?

This is what Nic Chahine averages with his options buys. Not selling covered calls or spreads... BUYING options. Most traders don't even have a winning percentage of 27% buying options. He has an 83% win rate. Here's how he does it.


While oil prices remain weak, even in spite of the he death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, there might be a shining gem amid the situation. According to Credit Suisse analysts Edward Westlake and Zachary Deschaine, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) is set to outperform the broader market. Amid several other downgrades, the firm upgraded the stock from Neutral to Outperform and raised its price target from $21 to $24 on Friday, January 23.

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Susquehanna additionally seems bullish on Chesapeake, initiating coverage today with a Neutral and a $22 price target, implying a potential upside of more than 10 percent.

On the flip side, Credit Suisse downgraded six other oil stocks:

Outperform To Neutral

  • Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX)
  • Hess Corp (NYSE: HES)
  • Magnum Hunter Resources Corp (NYSE: MHR)
  • Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL)

all demoted from Outperform to Neutral.

Buy at this blue line for a shot at trading profitably

There are so many indicators out there on when to buy and sell. Nic uses none. He looks at a chart and buys when a stock “pushes” off this blue line. What blue line? Find out on the next page. It’ll change how you make money from stocks. Click here for the details.


Neutral To Underperform
  • Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE: MUR)
  • Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM)

What Separates Chesapeake From Peers?

Credit Suisse stated the upgrade was made “to reflect an attractive relative valuation, a much improved balance sheet that has investment grade qualities, and our [Credit Suisse’s] expectation that the company could utilize its newly found financial strength to make a counter-cyclical M&A transaction to high-grade its asset base.”

Although there are some headwinds to this call, including the oversupply in natural gas and liquids markets, analysts still view “the current valuation as defensive with the shares trading toward the lower end of the 2015 and 2016 EV/EBITDA valuation.”

Furthermore, despite the reduction in the firm’s commodity price forecast, the increase in its NAV “reflects the accretive nature of the Southern Marcellus asset sale to SWN,” which was “the key transformative deal for CHK.”

According to Credit Suisse’s high yield research team, this transaction has the potential to “meaningfully enhance the company’s credit,” and leaves Chesapeake’s balance sheet standing as one of the strongest in the peer group.


27% profits every 20 days?

This is what Nic Chahine averages with his options buys. Not selling covered calls or spreads... BUYING options. Most traders don't even have a winning percentage of 27% buying options. He has an 83% win rate. Here's how he does it.


Posted In: Analyst ColorUpgradesDowngradesPrice TargetCommoditiesMarketsAnalyst RatingsMoversAbdullah bin AbdulazizCredit SuisseEdward WestlakeSaudi ArabiaZachary Deschaine