Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 39,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,431,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in Expand Energy by 74.6% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Expand Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Expand Energy by 379.6% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 259 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Expand Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new stake in Expand Energy in the first quarter worth about $32,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings cut Expand Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $99.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.89.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

Shares of EXE opened at $98.16 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 0.34. Expand Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $84.99 and a fifty-two week high of $126.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $91.85 and its 200 day moving average is $97.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.20. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 20.46%.The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Expand Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.90 per share, with a total value of $88,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. This represents a 1.18% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Expand Energy Company 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.