Expand Energy Corporation $EXE Stake Boosted by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) by 143.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,997 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,213 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Expand Energy were worth $3,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Expand Energy by 12.8% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 120,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,838,000 after purchasing an additional 13,670 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Expand Energy by 513.9% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 36,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,908,000 after purchasing an additional 30,790 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in Expand Energy by 59.0% in the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 30,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,272,000 after purchasing an additional 11,428 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $267,172,000 after purchasing an additional 2,414,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Expand Energy in the third quarter worth $20,103,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EXE. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. William Blair cut shares of Expand Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Expand Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.45.

Expand Energy Stock Down 0.7%

Expand Energy stock opened at $92.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Expand Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $91.01 and a fifty-two week high of $126.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $100.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.40.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 10.26%. As a group, analysts forecast that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Wichterich bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $107.50 per share, with a total value of $215,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 83,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,976,035. The trade was a 2.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $96.43 per share, with a total value of $192,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $881,755.92. The trade was a 28.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Expand Energy 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.