Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC Takes $5.93 Million Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Kettle Hill Capital Management opened a new position in Expand Energy, buying 53,730 shares worth about $5.93 million in the fourth quarter. The stake represents about 1.3% of Kettle Hill’s portfolio and is its 26th largest holding.
• Analysts remain mostly positive on EXE despite a recent downgrade from Weiss Ratings to Hold. The stock’s consensus rating is still Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $131.45.
• Expand Energy has also seen recent insider buying from both its CFO and CEO, and it reported better-than-expected Q1 results with earnings of $3.83 per share and revenue of $4.40 billion. The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share, implying a 2.6% yield.

Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 53,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,930,000. Expand Energy comprises approximately 1.3% of Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 6.8% in the third quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,383 shares of the company's stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 9,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake 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 last quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,657,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 5.2% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EXE shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Expand Energy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $112.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $141.00 price objective on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expand Energy

In other Expand Energy news, CFO Marcel Teunissen bought 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $881,755.92. The trade was a 28.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Wichterich bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.90 per share, with a total value of $88,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. The trade was a 1.18% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired a total of 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $375,120 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

EXE stock opened at $87.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.26. Expand Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $86.80 and a fifty-two week high of $126.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.03 billion, a PE ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.33.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 10.26%. Analysts forecast that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Expand Energy's payout ratio is presently 17.15%.

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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