Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE)

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on EXE shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Expand Energy from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 29th. William Blair downgraded shares of Expand Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Expand Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.78.

Expand Energy Price Performance

EXE stock opened at $87.81 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.34. The firm has a market cap of $21.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.34. 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.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 10.26%. On average, analysts anticipate that Expand Energy will post 8.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Marcel Teunissen bought 2,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $96.43 per share, with a total value of $192,860.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $881,755.92. This represents a 28.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $88.90 per share, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $375,120 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expand Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 74.6% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 350.9% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 379.6% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new stake in Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

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.