58,445 Shares in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE Purchased by Credit Agricole S A

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A recently acquired a stake in Expand Energy Corporation, purchasing 58,445 shares valued at approximately $6.5 million during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors collectively own nearly 98% of Expand Energy's shares, indicating a strong interest from large investment firms.
• Expand Energy's COO and CEO both made recent stock purchases, reflecting confidence in the company's future performance amidst changing analyst ratings.

Credit Agricole S A acquired a new position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 58,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,506,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $2,973,033,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $624,083,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $518,328,000. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $433,431,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $404,511,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Expand Energy to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bernstein Bank cut their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $150.00 to $146.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $140.00 to $136.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.42.

Insider Transactions at Expand Energy

In other news, COO Joshua J. Viets bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $92.16 per share, with a total value of $184,320.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 61,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,684,060.16. The trade was a 3.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $95.86 per share, for a total transaction of $239,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 166,715 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,981,299.90. This trade represents a 1.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Expand Energy Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:EXE traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $94.62. The stock had a trading volume of 2,245,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,751,164. Expand Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $69.12 and a 1-year high of $123.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a PE ratio of 242.62 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.94.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.69 billion for 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%. Analysts predict that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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.