Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 46,503 Shares of Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) by 453.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,754 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 46,503 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Expand Energy were worth $6,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EXE. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 77,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,523,000 after buying an additional 15,904 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Expand Energy by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 239,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,443,000 after acquiring an additional 34,132 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Expand Energy by 36,574.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,420,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,172,000 after acquiring an additional 2,414,311 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in Expand Energy during the fourth quarter worth $57,153,000. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its position in Expand Energy by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 49,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,467,000 after purchasing an additional 23,590 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EXE shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Expand Energy from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Expand Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.19.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXE opened at $88.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.03. Expand Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $84.99 and a 1-year high of $126.62. The firm has a market cap of $21.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 0.34.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.22. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 22.53%.The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Analysts anticipate that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Expand Energy

In other news, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.90 per share, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 85,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. The trade was a 1.18% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $881,755.92. The trade was a 28.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 4,000 shares of company stock worth $375,120 over the last 90 days. 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.