Panagora Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired 33,172 shares of Expand Energy Corporation ($EXE), valued at approximately $3.69 million, during the 1st quarter.
• Institutional investors own 97.93% of Expand Energy's stock, with several major acquisitions reported in the first quarter alone, including a stake by Vanguard Group valued at nearly $3 billion.
• Expand Energy declared a quarterly dividend of $0.575, with a current yield of 2.4%, while insiders, including the COO and CEO, have recently purchased additional shares of the company.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 33,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,693,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,973,033,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,310,932,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $701,831,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $624,083,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Expand Energy during the first quarter worth $518,328,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EXE shares. 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $145.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Siebert Williams Shank dropped their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $142.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Expand Energy has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.12.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Expand Energy stock traded down $1.15 on Friday, reaching $95.51. 2,375,614 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,966,231. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.00 and a 200 day moving average of $106.32. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $69.12 and a 52 week high of $123.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a PE ratio of 244.90 and a beta of 0.46.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.10 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 company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 589.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Joshua J. Viets acquired 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $92.16 per share, with a total value of $184,320.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 61,676 shares in the company, valued at $5,684,060.16. The trade was a 3.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $95.86 per share, for a total transaction of $239,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 166,715 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 0.17% of the company's stock.

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.