AGF Management Ltd. Buys New Stake in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)

Key Points

• AGF Management Ltd. has acquired 3,633,766 shares of Expand Energy Corporation for approximately $404.5 million, making it the firm's 8th largest position and representing about 2.2% of its portfolio.
• Expand Energy reported $1.10 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing estimates, with revenue exceeding expectations at $3.69 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.3% despite a high dividend payout ratio of 589.74%.

AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,633,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $404,511,000. Expand Energy makes up about 2.2% of AGF Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. AGF Management Ltd. owned about 1.53% of Expand Energy as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $2,973,033,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Expand Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $518,328,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in Expand Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $433,431,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Expand Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $326,670,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $224,301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of Expand Energy stock traded down $1.47 on Thursday, hitting $94.99. 3,625,472 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,760,413. Expand Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $69.12 and a 52 week high of $123.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 243.57 and a beta of 0.46.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 5.76%. Research analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Expand Energy from $140.00 to $136.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Wednesday. Siebert Williams Shank cut their price target on Expand Energy from $142.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho upped their price target 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, Capital One Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $105.00 to $101.00 in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Expand Energy presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $128.96.

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.