West Family Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) by 12.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,290 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,290 shares during the period. Expand Energy accounts for 1.4% of West Family Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Expand Energy were worth $5,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EXE. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Expand Energy by 9,116.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 25,499,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,325,321,000 after purchasing an additional 25,223,067 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Expand Energy by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,251,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,345,303,000 after buying an additional 5,291,948 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the second quarter worth about $1,778,004,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,183,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,400,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014,484 shares during the period. Finally, Oaktree Capital Management LP grew its stake in Expand Energy by 3.5% during the first quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 5,237,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,970,000 after acquiring an additional 175,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.90 per share, with a total value of $88,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at $7,600,772.20. This trade represents a 1.18% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Freedom Broker upgraded Expand Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Expand Energy from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Benchmark decreased their target price on Expand Energy from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Expand Energy from $131.00 to $129.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.89.

Expand Energy Price Performance

EXE stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $98.19. 2,191,830 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,571,330. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 0.34. Expand Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $84.99 and a 12 month high of $126.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is 19.86%.

Expand Energy Profile

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.