Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $131.1739.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EXE. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Expand Energy from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Stephens raised their price target on Expand Energy from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Expand Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Expand Energy from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th.

Expand Energy Stock Down 0.8%

EXE opened at $107.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.05. Expand Energy has a twelve month low of $91.01 and a twelve month high of $126.62.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 8.17%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Expand Energy will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is currently 30.50%.

Insider Transactions at Expand Energy

In related news, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $107.50 per share, with a total value of $215,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 83,498 shares in the company, valued at $8,976,035. The trade was a 2.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expand Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXE. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth $2,599,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $208,000. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth $205,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 41.5% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

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.