Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) Trading 5.3% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Excelerate Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EE) were up 5.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $36.14 and last traded at $35.9460. Approximately 67,446 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 455,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EE. Dnb Carnegie cut Excelerate Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Excelerate Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Excelerate Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays raised their target price on Excelerate Energy from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Excelerate Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Excelerate Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 2.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.89 and a 200-day moving average of $30.12.

Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Excelerate Energy had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 4.12%. The business had revenue of $317.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Excelerate Energy, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Excelerate Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Excelerate Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Excelerate Energy announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $75.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Excelerate Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Excelerate Energy by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,607,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,181,000 after acquiring an additional 719,148 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Excelerate Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,405,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,464,000 after acquiring an additional 11,731 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Excelerate Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,658,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Excelerate Energy by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 949,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,640,000 after purchasing an additional 25,600 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its position in Excelerate Energy by 77.3% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 781,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,689,000 after purchasing an additional 340,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.79% of the company’s stock.

About Excelerate Energy

Excelerate Energy (NYSE: EE) is a Houston‐based energy infrastructure company specializing in liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions. The company develops, owns and operates floating regasification units (FSRUs) that convert shipped LNG into natural gas for delivery into existing pipeline networks. Excelerate Energy’s integrated platform also includes specialized LNG carriers, proprietary regasification technology and on‐shore support facilities, enabling rapid deployment of import terminals without extensive capital construction.

Founded in the early 2000s, Excelerate Energy pioneered the first FSRU in 2007, demonstrating the flexibility and cost advantages of floating LNG import infrastructure.