Patton Fund Management Inc. Lowers Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management cut its stake in Expand Energy by 63.2% in the first quarter, selling 37,894 shares and leaving it with 22,103 shares valued at about $2.43 million.
• Analysts remain mixed on EXE: several firms trimmed ratings or price targets, but the stock still holds a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $131.45.
• Expand Energy posted solid quarterly results, with EPS of $3.83 beating estimates and revenue of $4.40 billion topping expectations; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share for a 2.6% yield.

Patton Fund Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) by 63.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,103 shares of the company's stock after selling 37,894 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in Expand Energy were worth $2,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 161.5% in 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 last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Expand Energy by 36,574.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,420,912 shares of the company's stock worth $267,172,000 after purchasing an additional 2,414,311 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Expand Energy by 192.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,286,361 shares of the company's stock worth $362,683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160,979 shares in the last quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Expand Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $145,633,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Expand Energy by 862.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,256,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,542,000 after buying an additional 1,126,363 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Expand Energy from $141.00 to $139.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. William Blair lowered Expand Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $134.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Expand Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued 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, Expand Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.90 per share, with a total value of $88,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. This represents a 1.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $96.43 per share, with a total value of $192,860.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,144 shares in the company, valued at $881,755.92. This trade represents a 28.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $375,120 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Expand Energy Stock Up 0.0%

EXE opened at $88.47 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $21.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.33. Expand Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $86.37 and a twelve month high of $126.62. The company's 50-day moving average price is $93.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.19.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio is 17.15%.

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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