D.A. Davidson & CO. Increases Stake in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) by 177.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,535 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,772 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Expand Energy were worth $2,364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EXE. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its stake in Expand Energy by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 77,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,523,000 after acquiring an additional 15,904 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 239,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,443,000 after purchasing an additional 34,132 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of 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. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the fourth quarter worth $57,153,000. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company increased its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 49,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,467,000 after purchasing an additional 23,590 shares in the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.90 per share, with a total value of $88,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. This trade represents a 1.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $96.43 per share, with a total value of $192,860.00. Following the transaction, 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 quarter, insiders acquired 4,000 shares of company stock worth $375,120. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on EXE. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Citigroup cut their price target on Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Expand Energy from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, William Blair downgraded Expand Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expand Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.19.

Expand Energy Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of EXE opened at $86.95 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $84.99 and a 1 year high of $126.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.69. The firm has a market cap of $20.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 0.34.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Expand Energy Corporation will post 8.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.