Benchmark Issues Positive Forecast for Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Stock Price

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) had its price objective raised by Benchmark from $112.00 to $124.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Expand Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 price target on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Expand Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $130.38.

Expand Energy Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Expand Energy stock opened at $106.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $25.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.47. Expand Energy has a 1 year low of $91.01 and a 1 year high of $126.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $106.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.44.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.11. Expand Energy had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Analysts forecast that Expand Energy will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Expand Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expand Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 120,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,838,000 after buying an additional 13,670 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Expand Energy by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 53,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,211,000 after acquiring an additional 5,020 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Expand Energy during the second quarter worth about $3,347,000. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in Expand Energy by 59.0% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 30,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,272,000 after acquiring an additional 11,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 6.2% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,858,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,159,000 after purchasing an additional 224,275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Expand Energy Company 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.