Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Takes Position in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Expand Energy during the first quarter worth $326,670,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $127,038,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $108,048,000. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth $79,015,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at $60,722,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Expand Energy from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $137.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $135.00 price target on shares of Expand Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Barclays increased their target price on Expand Energy from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Expand Energy from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $129.50.

Expand Energy Stock Up 3.8%

EXE traded up $4.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $109.58. The company had a trading volume of 4,288,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,783,181. Expand Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $69.12 and a 1-year high of $123.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $26.08 billion, a PE ratio of -20.44 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $114.27 and a 200-day moving average of $107.59.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Expand Energy had a negative net margin of 18.49% and a positive return on equity of 4.64%. As a group, analysts forecast that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.91%.

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.