Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) Receives $126.89 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $127.1579.

EXE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Freedom Broker upgraded Expand Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Benchmark decreased their price target on Expand Energy from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Expand Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expand Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EXE. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Expand Energy by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 77,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,523,000 after buying an additional 15,904 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Expand Energy by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 239,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,443,000 after buying an additional 34,132 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 2,414,311 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the second quarter worth $3,739,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the second quarter worth $1,778,004,000. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXE opened at $94.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 0.34. Expand Energy has a twelve month low of $84.99 and a twelve month high of $126.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 20.46% and a return on equity of 10.33%. On average, research analysts forecast that Expand Energy will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is currently 19.86%.

About Expand Energy

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: EXE) is an independent energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company’s operations are concentrated in major U.S. shale basins, including the Marcellus and Haynesville formations, and its products support domestic electricity generation, industrial activity and liquefied natural gas exports.

Expand Energy was created through the combination of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Southwestern Energy Company.