Investors Purchase Large Volume of Expand Energy Put Options (NASDAQ:EXE)

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 10,834 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 69% compared to the typical volume of 6,415 put options.

Expand Energy Trading Down 0.5%

EXE stock traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $103.38. 366,154 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,942,099. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.38. Expand Energy has a 12-month low of $91.01 and a 12-month high of $126.62.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.11. Expand Energy had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Expand Energy will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is presently 30.50%.

Insider Transactions at Expand Energy

In related news, CEO Michael Wichterich bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $107.50 per share, with a total value of $215,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 83,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,976,035. The trade was a 2.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXE. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 161.5% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,959,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,695,520,000 after buying an additional 9,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted 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 worth $267,172,000 after acquiring an additional 2,414,311 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $362,683,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160,979 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in Expand Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $169,783,000. Finally, Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Expand Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $145,633,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EXE. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $141.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price target on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Expand Energy from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $131.48.

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.