Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Excelerate Energy in a research report on Monday, September 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. DNB Markets set a $31.00 target price on Excelerate Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 price target on Excelerate Energy and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Excelerate Energy in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Excelerate Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.38.

Excelerate Energy Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:EE opened at $27.31 on Friday. Excelerate Energy has a 12-month low of $21.28 and a 12-month high of $32.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.36.

Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.13. Excelerate Energy had a net margin of 3.46% and a return on equity of 4.34%. The business had revenue of $391.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.82 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Excelerate Energy will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Excelerate Energy declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Excelerate Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. Excelerate Energy’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Excelerate Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EE. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Excelerate Energy by 17.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,888,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,750,000 after buying an additional 433,010 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Excelerate Energy by 29.0% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 924,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,279,000 after buying an additional 207,771 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Excelerate Energy by 77.3% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 781,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,689,000 after buying an additional 340,747 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Excelerate Energy by 41.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 608,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,830,000 after acquiring an additional 178,507 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in Excelerate Energy by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 592,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,925,000 after buying an additional 139,160 shares in the last quarter. 21.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Excelerate Energy

Excelerate Energy, Inc provides flexible liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions worldwide. The company offers regasification services, including floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), infrastructure development, and LNG and natural gas supply, procurement, and distribution services; LNG terminal services; and natural gas supply to-power projects.