Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Excelerate Energy in a research report on Monday, September 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. DNB Markets set a $31.00 price target on shares of Excelerate Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $37.00 price target on shares of Excelerate Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Excelerate Energy in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 target price on shares of Excelerate Energy and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.38.

Excelerate Energy Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of EE opened at $26.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39. Excelerate Energy has a 1-year low of $21.28 and a 1-year high of $32.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.54.

Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $391.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.82 million. Excelerate Energy had a return on equity of 4.34% and a net margin of 3.46%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Excelerate Energy will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Excelerate Energy declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Excelerate Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. Excelerate Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Excelerate Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EE. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Excelerate Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $12,926,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Excelerate Energy by 17.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,888,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,750,000 after buying an additional 433,010 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Excelerate Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $11,740,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Excelerate Energy by 328.4% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 453,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,292,000 after acquiring an additional 347,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Excelerate Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $7,102,000. 21.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Excelerate Energy

Excelerate Energy, Inc provides flexible liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions worldwide. The company offers regasification services, including floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), infrastructure development, and LNG and natural gas supply, procurement, and distribution services; LNG terminal services; and natural gas supply to-power projects.