Northern Trust Corp Takes Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp acquired a new stake in Expand Energy Corporation, purchasing 1,913,477 shares valued at approximately $213 million, representing about 0.80% ownership of the company.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for Expand Energy, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $127.42.
• Insider trading activity showed that both the COO and CEO of Expand Energy have recently increased their holdings, indicating confidence in the company's future performance.

Northern Trust Corp bought a new stake in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,913,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $213,008,000. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.80% of Expand Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Expand Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on EXE. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Expand Energy from $121.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on Expand Energy from $150.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Roth Capital lowered Expand Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Expand Energy from $145.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Expand Energy to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $127.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expand Energy

In other news, COO Joshua J. Viets acquired 2,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $92.16 per share, for a total transaction of $184,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 61,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,684,060.16. The trade was a 3.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $95.86 per share, for a total transaction of $239,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 166,715 shares in the company, valued at $15,981,299.90. The trade was a 1.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Expand Energy Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of EXE opened at $95.45 on Friday. Expand Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $69.12 and a 52-week high of $123.35. The business's fifty day moving average is $106.19 and its 200-day moving average is $106.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 244.75 and a beta of 0.46.

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 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 business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 589.74%.

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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