Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE)

Key Points

• Unusually heavy bearish options activity hit Expand Energy, with investors buying 70,380 put options on Tuesday — about 907% above the average put volume.
• The stock fell 1.4% to $89.11, hovering near its 52-week low, even though the company recently reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue.
• Expand Energy also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share and has seen a mix of analyst views, with the consensus rating at Moderate Buy and an average price target of $131.45.

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 70,380 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 907% compared to the average volume of 6,986 put options.

Expand Energy Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:EXE traded down $1.31 on Tuesday, hitting $89.11. The stock had a trading volume of 894,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,613,172. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Expand Energy has a 52 week low of $89.27 and a 52 week high of $126.62. The business's fifty day moving average is $97.98 and its 200 day moving average is $105.24. The company has a market cap of $21.32 billion, a PE ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.33.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 22.53%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Expand Energy will post 8.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EXE. Stephens lifted their target price on Expand Energy from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price target on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. 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 note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Expand Energy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Marcel Teunissen purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $881,755.92. This represents a 28.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $93.36 per share, for a total transaction of $93,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,888,733.28. This represents a 1.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EXE. 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. increased its stake 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 valued at $267,172,000 after buying an additional 2,414,311 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 94.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,498,905 shares of the company's stock worth $493,890,000 after buying an additional 2,188,422 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 192.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,286,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,683,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dragoneer Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Expand Energy during the fourth quarter worth $145,633,000. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.