Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Takes $153.42 Million Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC invested $153.42 million in Expand Energy Corporation, acquiring approximately 1,378,149 shares, representing about 0.58% ownership of the company.
• Expand Energy reported quarterly earnings of $1.10 per share, falling short of the consensus estimate of $1.14, with a revenue of $3.69 billion compared to expectations of $2.09 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.575, equating to an annual dividend of $2.30 and a dividend yield of 2.4%, despite a high payout ratio of 589.74%.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,378,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $153,416,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.58% of Expand Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXE. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in Expand Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $2,973,033,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth about $518,328,000. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth about $433,431,000. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth about $404,511,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth about $326,670,000. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Expand Energy Trading Down 2.2%

EXE stock traded down $2.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $93.03. The company had a trading volume of 4,483,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,773,184. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Expand Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $69.12 and a 52 week high of $123.35. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $107.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.27. The stock has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 238.54 and a beta of 0.46.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Expand Energy had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 5.76%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Expand Energy's payout ratio is 589.74%.

Insider Activity at Expand Energy

In other Expand Energy news, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were 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 owned 166,715 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,981,299.90. This represents a 1.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Joshua J. Viets bought 2,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $92.16 per share, for a total transaction of $184,320.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly 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. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on EXE shares. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Siebert Williams Shank cut their price objective on Expand Energy from $142.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Expand Energy from $150.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $135.00 target price on Expand Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Expand Energy from $121.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $127.92.

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.