Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Buys New Stake in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Expand Energy Corporation, purchasing 2,601 shares valued at approximately $304,000 during the 2nd quarter.
• Expand Energy's COO and CEO both made recent insider purchases, with COO Joshua J. Viets acquiring 2,000 shares and CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. acquiring 2,500 shares, indicating confidence in the company's prospects.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Expand Energy, with recent downgrades from several firms leading to a revised target price of $98.00, down from previous estimates as high as $142.00.

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EXE. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the second quarter worth about $273,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Expand Energy by 40.0% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 4,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Expand Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $491,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Expand Energy by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 26,056 shares of the company's stock worth $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 49,248 shares of the company's stock worth $5,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,886 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Expand Energy

In other Expand Energy news, COO Joshua J. Viets acquired 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $92.16 per share, for a total transaction of $184,320.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 61,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,684,060.16. The trade was a 3.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $95.86 per share, for a total transaction of $239,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 166,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,981,299.90. This represents a 1.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EXE shares. Roth Capital cut shares of Expand Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $125.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Siebert Williams Shank decreased their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $142.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $141.00 to $137.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Expand Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $127.54.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of Expand Energy stock opened at $107.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 276.24 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.18. Expand Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $82.69 and a 12 month high of $123.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.04). Expand Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 2.41%.The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio is 589.74%.

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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