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

Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $37.00 price target on Excelerate Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 price objective on Excelerate Energy and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Excelerate Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Excelerate Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Excelerate Energy in a report on Monday, September 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.71.

Excelerate Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EE opened at $28.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.27. Excelerate Energy has a 52 week low of $21.28 and a 52 week high of $32.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Excelerate Energy declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Excelerate Energy by 37.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,281,000 after acquiring an additional 110,970 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Excelerate Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,017,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Excelerate Energy by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 592,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,925,000 after purchasing an additional 139,160 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Excelerate Energy by 392.1% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 260,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,553,000 after purchasing an additional 207,295 shares during the period. Finally, Jain Global LLC increased its position in Excelerate Energy by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 178,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,507,000 after purchasing an additional 104,371 shares in the last quarter. 21.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Excelerate Energy

Excelerate Energy (NYSE: EE) is a Houston‐based energy infrastructure company specializing in liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions. The company develops, owns and operates floating regasification units (FSRUs) that convert shipped LNG into natural gas for delivery into existing pipeline networks. Excelerate Energy’s integrated platform also includes specialized LNG carriers, proprietary regasification technology and on‐shore support facilities, enabling rapid deployment of import terminals without extensive capital construction.

Founded in the early 2000s, Excelerate Energy pioneered the first FSRU in 2007, demonstrating the flexibility and cost advantages of floating LNG import infrastructure.