Chesapeake Shares Jump On Reports Of Renewed Investor Interest - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

Shares of Chesapeake Energy stock jumped about five percent in late afternoon trading today, fueled by reports that two powerful investors had taken large stakes in the company.

According to a report at bloomberg.com, billionaire investor Carl Icahn has purchased slightly more than four percent of Chesapeake's outstanding shares.  The report states that would make Icahn the 5th-largest owner of Chesapeake stock.

When a beneficial owner of a company's shares reaches or exceeds five percent of total outstanding shares, the transactions must be reported and filed publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  That was the case with Icahn and Chesapeake a year and a half ago, when the one-time corporate raider bought up approximately five and a half percent of the company's shares.

Chesapeake History Timeline

Over the ensuing three months, in early 2011, Chesapeake stock increased in price to a high of $35, at which point Icahn began selling.  He eventually sold all of his stake in the company.

Chesapeake opened trading today at $15.09, closing up .49 at $15.58.

Also today, CNBC reported that investment management firm BlackRock had increased its number of Chesapeake shares from one million to four or five million.

Chesapeake shares have dropped about 35 percent since the start of the year, in part, due to 10-year low natural gas prices, but also because of reports detailing possible conflicts of interest involving CEO Aubrey McClendon and poor governance by Chesapeake's Board.