Westpac Banking Corp Invests $707,000 in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXE. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Expand Energy during the second quarter valued at $289,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the second quarter worth $1,044,000. Korea Investment CORP purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the second quarter worth $15,684,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the second quarter worth $465,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the second quarter valued at $13,456,000. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Expand Energy from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Expand Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $131.00 to $129.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Expand Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.67.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXE opened at $96.09 on Friday. Expand Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $84.99 and a fifty-two week high of $126.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 0.34.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 20.46% and a return on equity of 10.33%. On average, analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is presently 19.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.90 per share, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. This trade represents a 1.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.