Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 835,499 Shares of Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Key Points

• Victory Capital boosted its stake in Expand Energy by 288.2%, buying 835,499 shares to hold 1,125,382 shares (about 0.47% of the company) valued at roughly $119.56 million.
• Expand Energy beat estimates with Q4 results — $2.00 EPS vs. $1.89 expected and $3.27B revenue vs. $2.28B expected — and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.575 ($2.30 annualized, ~2.2% yield) with an ex-dividend date of March 5.
• Analysts overall rate the stock a Buy (average target $129.92), with several firms issuing buy/strong-buy ratings though UBS and Sanford Bernstein recently trimmed price targets.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Free Report) by 288.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,125,382 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 835,499 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.47% of Expand Energy worth $119,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXE. Hara Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Expand Energy by 3.3% during the third quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Expand Energy by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 16.8% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 778 shares of the company's stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 3.1% in the third quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Florida Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Expand Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $145.00 to $144.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $141.00 price objective on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $129.92.

Expand Energy Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of EXE opened at $105.88 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 0.47. Expand Energy Corporation has a one year low of $91.01 and a one year high of $126.62. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $106.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 15.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Expand Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.50%.

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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