Expand Energy Corporation $EXE Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) by 110.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 776,111 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 406,535 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.32% of Expand Energy worth $85,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Expand Energy by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,251,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,345,303,000 after buying an additional 5,291,948 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 36,574.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 94.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,498,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188,422 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,160,979 shares during the period. Finally, Dragoneer Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $145,633,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Expand Energy news, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.90 per share, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 85,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. This represents a 1.18% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen purchased 2,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $881,755.92. This represents a 28.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought a total of 4,000 shares of company stock worth $375,120 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Expand Energy Trading Down 0.2%

EXE stock opened at $91.52 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.23. Expand Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $84.99 and a 52 week high of $126.62.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.22. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 22.53%.The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.4 EPS for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Expand Energy from $134.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Expand Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.19.

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.