Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Increases Stock Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Expand Energy Corporation by 200.0%, now owning 4,500 shares valued at approximately $526,000.
• Institutional investors own 97.93% of Expand Energy's stock, with significant investments from Vanguard and T. Rowe Price among others.
• Expand Energy's recent earnings report showed a miss on earnings per share with $1.10 against an estimated $1.14, but a revenue of $3.69 billion exceeded estimates.

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,500 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Expand Energy were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,973,033,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,310,932,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $701,831,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $624,083,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $518,328,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on EXE. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $127.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Bernstein Bank decreased their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $150.00 to $146.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $127.46.

Expand Energy Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:EXE opened at $105.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.05 and a 200 day moving average of $106.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 271.21 and a beta of 0.46. Expand Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $80.72 and a 52 week high of $123.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 589.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expand Energy news, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $95.86 per share, for a total transaction of $239,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 166,715 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,981,299.90. The trade was a 1.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Joshua J. Viets acquired 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.16 per share, for a total transaction of $184,320.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 61,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,684,060.16. This trade represents a 3.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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