California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Stake in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 423,523 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,603 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of Expand Energy worth $46,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EXE. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,251,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,345,303,000 after purchasing an additional 5,291,948 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Expand Energy by 36,574.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,420,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,172,000 after purchasing an additional 2,414,311 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Expand Energy by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,498,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188,422 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Expand Energy by 192.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,286,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,683,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160,979 shares during the period. Finally, Dragoneer Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $145,633,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Expand Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ EXE opened at $86.95 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 0.34. Expand Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $84.99 and a 52-week high of $126.62.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.22. Expand Energy had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.90 per share, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. The trade was a 1.18% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $881,755.92. This represents a 28.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired a total of 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $375,120 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on EXE. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Expand Energy from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 29th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Expand Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.19.

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.