Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Decreases Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & Co. LLC cut its Expand Energy stake by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 142,766 shares and ending with 1,444,751 shares valued at about $159.4 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with Expand Energy carrying a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.45. Several firms recently reiterated or raised targets, including Jefferies at $141 and Stephens at $146.
• Expand Energy reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS estimates with $3.83 per share and revenue of $4.40 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share, implying a 2.6% annual yield.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,444,751 shares of the company's stock after selling 142,766 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.61% of Expand Energy worth $159,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Beck Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $1,822,000. Solstein Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Solstein Capital LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Hyperion Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $265,000. Summit Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 96,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,622,000 after purchasing an additional 27,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $150,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on EXE. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 price objective on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Benchmark upped their target price on Expand Energy from $112.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Stephens upped their target price on Expand Energy from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $134.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.45.

Expand Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ EXE opened at $88.78 on Friday. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $96.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.55. Expand Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $86.80 and a 1 year high of $126.62. The company has a market cap of $21.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 0.33.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 22.53%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Marcel Teunissen purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $96.43 per share, with a total value 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. This trade represents a 28.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $93.36 per share, for a total transaction of $93,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,498 shares in the company, valued at $7,888,733.28. This trade represents a 1.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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