Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) received a consensus rating of "Buy" from 21 ratings firms, with an average 12-month target price of $127.42.
• Insider buying activity includes COO Joshua J. Viets purchasing 2,000 shares at $92.16 and CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. buying 2,500 shares at $95.86, indicating their confidence in the company's future.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.575, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 2.4%, although the payout ratio is notably high at 589.74%.

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $127.4231.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EXE. Capital One Financial lowered their target price on Expand Energy from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on Expand Energy from $150.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Expand Energy to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $145.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th.

Insider Activity at Expand Energy

In related news, COO Joshua J. Viets acquired 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $92.16 per share, with a total value of $184,320.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 61,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,684,060.16. The trade was a 3.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $95.86 per share, with a total value of $239,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 166,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,981,299.90. This trade represents a 1.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Expand Energy by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,266,977 shares of the company's stock worth $3,188,600,000 after buying an additional 559,887 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,310,932,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $701,831,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Expand Energy by 3.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,812,172 shares of the company's stock valued at $677,029,000 after acquiring an additional 170,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $624,083,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

Shares of EXE stock opened at $96.28 on Wednesday. Expand Energy has a 52 week low of $69.12 and a 52 week high of $123.35. The company has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 246.88 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.04). Expand Energy had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 5.76%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Expand Energy will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. Expand Energy's payout ratio is presently 589.74%.

About Expand Energy

Expand Energy Corporation is an independent natural gas producer principally in the United States. Expand Energy Corporation, formerly known as Chesapeake Energy Corporation, is based in OKLAHOMA CITY.

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