Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $86.42 and last traded at $86.8540, with a volume of 459888 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $87.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 price objective on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays cut Expand Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price objective on Expand Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Expand Energy from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expand Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.45.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.83.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 22.53%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.87 EPS for the current year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Expand Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expand Energy news, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.90 per share, with a total value of $88,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at $7,600,772.20. This trade represents a 1.18% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $881,755.92. This represents a 28.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 4,000 shares of company stock worth $375,120. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Expand Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its holdings in Expand Energy by 6.8% in the third quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its holdings in Expand Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in Expand Energy by 74.6% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Expand Energy by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Expand Energy by 5.2% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% 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.