Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Expand Energy has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 19 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of about $131.45.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $3.83 versus $3.61 expected and revenue of $4.40 billion versus $3.53 billion expected.
• Expand Energy also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.6%, while recent insider purchases and heavy institutional ownership suggest ongoing investor interest.

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the nineteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $131.4545.

EXE has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Benchmark increased their target price on Expand Energy from $112.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. William Blair downgraded Expand Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Expand Energy from $141.00 to $139.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Expand Energy from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th.

Expand Energy Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of EXE opened at $88.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Expand Energy has a 1 year low of $86.37 and a 1 year high of $126.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.12. The firm has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.33.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.22. Expand Energy had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Expand Energy will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Marcel Teunissen bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at $881,755.92. The trade was a 28.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.90 per share, with a total value of $88,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 85,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,600,772.20. The trade was a 1.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $375,120 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Expand Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Expand Energy by 33.2% in 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. State Street Corp lifted its position in Expand Energy by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,183,560 shares of the company's stock worth $1,400,621,000 after buying an additional 1,014,484 shares during the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP lifted its position in Expand Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 5,237,477 shares of the company's stock worth $574,970,000 after buying an additional 175,114 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Expand Energy by 94.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,498,905 shares of the company's stock worth $493,890,000 after buying an additional 2,188,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Expand Energy by 16.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,359,372 shares of the company's stock worth $463,140,000 after buying an additional 619,001 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Expand Energy Company Profile

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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