Chesapeake cuts its costs

Article Excerpt

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY $7.87 (New York symbol CHK; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (405-848-8000; www.chk.com; Shares outstanding: 665.4 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; No dividends paid) stopped paying dividends earlier this year to conserve cash in the face of low oil and gas prices. The cut will save Chesapeake $240 million annually. Now the company has announced that it is laying off 740 employees, or 15% of its workforce. About 560 of these workers are from its headquarters in Oklahoma City. Chesapeake will incur a one-time charge of $55.5 million for the layoffs. Meanwhile, the company expects its output to rise 1% to 3% in 2015, to an average of 640,000 to 650,000 barrels of oil a day. The stock trades at just 2.1 times Chesapeake’s annual cash flow of $3.68 a share, based on the latest quarter. Chesapeake is still a buy. buy…