Activist investor Carl Icahn’s love/hate relationship with Chesapeake Energy Corp. appears to be more like than not after he increased his stake in the company, according to a regulatory filing by the company.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing earlier this month indicated that Icahn held 66.5 million shares in Chesapeake as of Aug. 1, or a 9.98% stake. Last November Icahn increased his holdings in Chesapeake to 8.9%, up from 7.6% in May 2012 (see Daily GPI, May 29, 2012). The company’s largest shareholder continues to be investor Southeastern Asset Management, which has close to 14%.

About two weeks after the SEC filing, CEO Doug Lawler announced a staff reorganization to accompany some ongoing lease sales across the country, booting COO Steve Dixon and other top executives (see Daily GPI, Aug. 14). Along with ousting some of the management team, Chesapeake also is said to be trimming its onshore workforce.

The company did not respond to queries, but reports indicate that community outreach staff has been reduced in Pennsylvania. In the Marcellus Shale, Chesapeake doesn’t have as tight a grip as it once had. The company now is in the process of selling a total of 260,000 net acres in two sales to EQT Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co. for an estimated $206,000 (see Daily GPI, July 8). The Marcellus midstream operations have been bought by Western Gas Partners LP for $620 million.

Last year Icahn and Southeastern representatives, along with other large investors, actively overhauled Chesapeake’s board of directors and set in place new governance standards following months of unsavory financial disclosures. After forcing out about half of the board, an Icahn representative claimed a seat (see Daily GPI, June 5, 2012). Southeastern since has returned to its position as a passive owner.

Icahn between 2010 and 2011 was considered instrumental in forcing changes at Chesapeake. At that time he and various entities bought and and later sold a 5.8% stake of Chesapeake. After meeting with Icahn in late 2010, management agreed to sell a boatload of property, including its stake in the Fayetteville Shale (see Daily GPI, Feb. 8, 2011).

Energy analysts still are looking for growth catalysts at the Oklahoma City operator. Susquehanna International Group LLC on Wednesday cut the company to “neutral” from “positive.” Recent improvements at Chesapeake (CHK) said analysts, now are tied to the share price.

“While all the right rhetoric is in place and old-guard senior managers have recently been let go, gas markets are weak, CHK’s easiest divestitures are done, and CHK is only now implementing a new capital allocation system,” wrote analysts. “We expect some integration issues and don’t anticipate outperformance of the name near term.”

Susquehanna kept a price target of $26.00/share on the company, which of late has been trading at slightly above $25.00. To date this year, Chesapeake’s price has risen 52% from the same period of 2012.