Michael Wichterich Buys 2,000 Shares of Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Stock

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) CEO Michael Wichterich bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $107.50 per share, for a total transaction of $215,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 83,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,976,035. The trade was a 2.45% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

EXE stock traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $108.33. The stock had a trading volume of 737,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,715,629. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.72. Expand Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $91.01 and a fifty-two week high of $126.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 8.17%. Analysts predict that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is 30.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on EXE. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $145.00 to $144.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $130.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expand Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXE. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Expand Energy by 161.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,959,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,695,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 36,574.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,420,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,172,000 after buying an additional 2,414,311 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Expand Energy by 192.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,286,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,683,000 after buying an additional 2,160,979 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new position in Expand Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $169,783,000. Finally, Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Expand Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $145,633,000. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.