Expand Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:EXE)

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 21,936 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 170% compared to the average volume of 8,113 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expand Energy news, CEO Michael Wichterich bought 1,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $88.90 per share, with a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen bought 2,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $96.43 per share, with a total value of $192,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $881,755.92. The trade was a 28.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 4,000 shares of company stock worth $375,120. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expand Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC grew its position in Expand Energy by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 77,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,523,000 after buying an additional 15,904 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in Expand Energy by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 239,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,443,000 after buying an additional 34,132 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 36,574.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,414,311 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,103,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of Expand Energy stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $87.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,019,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,738,429. 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 12-month low of $84.99 and a 12-month high of $126.62. The company has a market capitalization of $20.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $92.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.66.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Expand Energy will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on EXE shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Expand Energy from $134.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Expand Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. William Blair cut Expand Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Expand Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Expand Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.78.

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.