Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 8,065 Shares of Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 310,732 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,065 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Expand Energy were worth $34,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Expand Energy by 513.9% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 36,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,908,000 after purchasing an additional 30,790 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Expand Energy by 36,574.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in Expand Energy by 59.0% in the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 30,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,272,000 after purchasing an additional 11,428 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Expand Energy by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 77,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,523,000 after purchasing an additional 15,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Expand Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $20,103,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair downgraded Expand Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $141.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Expand Energy from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Expand Energy from $141.00 to $139.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 target price on Expand Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.45.

Insider Activity at Expand Energy

In other news, CFO Marcel Teunissen acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,144 shares in the company, valued at $881,755.92. The trade was a 28.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $93.36 per share, with a total value of $93,360.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 84,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,888,733.28. This represents a 1.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Expand Energy Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ EXE opened at $87.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 0.33. Expand Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $86.80 and a 52 week high of $126.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $96.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.66. 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 (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 22.53%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.