The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company has acquired a new position in Expand Energy Corporation, purchasing 179,842 shares valued at approximately $20.02 million.
• Corporate insiders, including COO Joshua J. Viets and CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr., have made recent purchases, increasing their ownership stakes in Expand Energy.
• The company's stock has seen price target adjustments from several brokerages, indicating a mixed outlook with an average consensus rating of Buy and a target price of $127.42.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 179,842 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,020,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.08% of Expand Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXE. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $36,507,000. Parallel Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $286,000. Doliver Advisors LP bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $446,000. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $466,000. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXE traded down $1.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $95.51. 2,375,614 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,974,081. Expand Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $69.12 and a 12 month high of $123.35. The firm has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a PE ratio of 244.90 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Research analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expand Energy news, COO Joshua J. Viets purchased 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $92.16 per share, for a total transaction of $184,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 61,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,684,060.16. This represents a 3.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Domenic J. Dell'osso, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $95.86 per share, with a total value of $239,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 166,715 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,981,299.90. This represents a 1.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EXE shares. Tudor Pickering & Holt decreased their price objective on Expand Energy from $119.00 to $118.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on Expand Energy from $150.00 to $148.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Siebert Williams Shank decreased their price objective on Expand Energy from $142.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Expand Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bernstein Bank reduced their price target on Expand Energy from $150.00 to $146.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Two research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expand Energy has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $127.12.

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.