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

Key Points

• Expand Energy has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 19 firms, with an average 12-month price target of about $131.45.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $3.83 versus $3.61 expected and revenue of $4.40 billion versus $3.53 billion forecast.
• Expand Energy also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.5%.

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

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EXE. Barclays cut shares of Expand Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $134.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Expand Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of EXE opened at $93.59 on Friday. Expand Energy has a 1-year low of $91.01 and a 1-year high of $126.62. The stock has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.49. 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 (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Expand Energy will post 8.8 EPS for the current year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Expand Energy's payout ratio is 17.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expand Energy news, CFO Marcel Teunissen acquired 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $881,755.92. This trade represents a 28.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $107.50 per share, with a total value of $215,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 83,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,976,035. This represents a 2.45% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,383 shares of the company's stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 9,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 74.6% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 234 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,073 shares of the company's stock worth $2,657,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company's stock.

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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