National Pension Service Has $37.08 Million Stake in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its stake in Expand Energy by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 335,950 shares valued at about $37.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment is still broadly positive, with Expand Energy carrying an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $131.45, though a few firms recently trimmed their ratings or targets.
• Expand Energy reported strong quarterly results and announced a dividend, posting EPS of $3.83 on revenue of $4.40 billion, both above estimates, and declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share.

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 335,950 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,309 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.14% of Expand Energy worth $37,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in Expand Energy by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,383 shares of the company's stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in Expand Energy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 9,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its position in Expand Energy by 74.6% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 234 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Expand Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,073 shares of the company's stock worth $2,657,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Expand Energy by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on EXE. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. William Blair lowered shares of Expand Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Expand Energy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.45.

Insider Transactions at Expand Energy

In other Expand Energy news, CFO Marcel Teunissen bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $96.43 per share, with a total value of $192,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,144 shares in the company, valued at $881,755.92. The trade was a 28.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Wichterich bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXE opened at $92.98 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $100.12 and its 200-day moving average is $106.34. Expand Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $91.01 and a 52-week high of $126.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.22. Expand Energy had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Expand Energy's payout ratio is presently 17.15%.

Expand Energy 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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