Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Expand Energy, with 15 buy, three strong-buy and six hold ratings among 24 brokerages. The average 12-month price target is $127.42, well above the reported share price of $84.09.
• Institutional ownership is substantial at 97.93%, with major investors including Capital Research Global Investors, BlackRock and Victory Capital increasing their positions.
• Expand Energy beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.33 versus the $1.13 consensus, while revenue reached $2.96 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share, representing a 2.7% annualized yield.

Shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have given a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $127.42.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Expand Energy from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $131.00 to $129.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expand Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Expand Energy by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,251,283 shares of the company's stock worth $2,345,303,000 after buying an additional 5,291,948 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $1,778,004,000. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 5,237,477 shares of the company's stock worth $574,970,000 after acquiring an additional 175,114 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,498,905 shares of the company's stock worth $493,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188,422 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 192.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,286,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,683,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160,979 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Expand Energy stock opened at $84.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $19.47 billion, a PE ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.99. Expand Energy has a one year low of $83.25 and a one year high of $126.62.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.20. Expand Energy had a net margin of 20.46% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. Research analysts expect that Expand Energy will post 8.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.5750 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio is 19.86%.

About Expand Energy

Expand Energy Corporation is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company's operations are focused primarily on unconventional, or shale, formations, and its products are sold to customers in domestic energy and industrial markets.

Expand Energy was created through the combination of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Southwestern Energy Company, a transaction completed in October 2024.

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