FORA Capital LLC Buys New Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Expand Energy Corporation, purchasing 28,674 shares valued at approximately $3.19 million during the first quarter.
• Corporate insiders, including the COO and CEO, recently made significant purchases of the company's stock, indicating confidence in its performance.
• Expand Energy's latest quarterly earnings showed a miss in earnings per share estimates, while the company reported revenue significantly exceeding analyst expectations.

FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 28,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,192,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,507,000. Parallel Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Doliver Advisors LP bought a new position in Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $446,000. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $466,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $95.86 per share, with a total value of $239,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 166,715 shares in the company, valued at $15,981,299.90. This trade represents a 1.52% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Joshua J. Viets acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $92.16 per share, for a total transaction of $184,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Capital One Financial reduced their target price on Expand Energy from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on Expand Energy from $150.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Expand Energy from $127.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. KeyCorp set a $135.00 price objective on Expand Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Expand Energy has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.42.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of EXE traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,493,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,722,899. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $69.12 and a one year high of $123.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 248.16 and a beta of 0.46. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $103.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.68.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 2.41%. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is 589.74%.

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.