Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys New Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired 71,801 shares of Expand Energy in the second quarter, valued at approximately $6.55 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.93% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Expand Energy holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $126.89, despite several recent target-price reductions.
• Expand Energy exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $1.33 in EPS versus $1.13 forecast, while reporting $2.96 billion in revenue. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share, representing a 2.3% annualized yield.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 71,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,548,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 74.6% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 234 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Expand Energy in the second quarter valued at $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in Expand Energy by 379.6% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 259 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EXE shares. Roth Capital reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Expand Energy from $131.00 to $129.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Expand Energy from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Benchmark lowered their target price on Expand Energy from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expand Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $126.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expand Energy

In other Expand Energy news, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.90 per share, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at $7,600,772.20. This represents a 1.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Expand Energy Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ EXE opened at $98.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 0.34. Expand Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $84.99 and a 52-week high of $126.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.20. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 20.46%.The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.86%.

Expand Energy 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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