Expand Energy Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:EXE)

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 70,380 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 907% compared to the typical volume of 6,986 put options.

Expand Energy Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ:EXE opened at $88.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Expand Energy has a 1 year low of $88.36 and a 1 year high of $126.62.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 22.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Expand Energy will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 1,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $93.36 per share, for a total transaction of $93,360.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 84,498 shares in the company, valued at $7,888,733.28. This represents a 1.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen acquired 2,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $96.43 per share, with a total value of $192,860.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $881,755.92. The trade was a 28.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Expand Energy from $141.00 to $139.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Expand Energy from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. William Blair cut Expand Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price target on Expand Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.45.

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.