Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Takes Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Migdal Insurance bought a new stake of 460,000 shares (~$50.8M) in Expand Energy in Q4, while institutional investors now own about 97.93% of the stock and several large funds (notably Capital Research) materially increased positions.
• Research firms give Expand Energy a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $131.95, amid mixed target moves (e.g., UBS $133, Jefferies $141, Barclays $127).
• The company recently beat expectations—reporting $2.00 EPS vs $1.89 and $3.27B revenue vs $2.28B—and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.575 (annualized $2.30) for about a 2.4% yield.

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 460,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,766,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. owned 0.19% of Expand Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXE. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 161.5% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,959,335 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,695,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,856,576 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the third quarter valued at about $169,783,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 862.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,256,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126,363 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the third quarter valued at about $115,504,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,183,560 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,400,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014,484 shares in the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EXE. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Expand Energy from $139.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price objective on Expand Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $141.00 price objective on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Expand Energy from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Expand Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.95.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Expand Energy stock opened at $94.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.89. Expand Energy Corporation has a one year low of $91.01 and a one year high of $126.62.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 8.17%. Research analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 9.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Expand Energy's payout ratio is currently 30.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Wichterich bought 2,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $107.50 per share, for a total transaction of $215,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 83,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,976,035. This trade represents a 2.45% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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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