Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) Price Target Cut to $137.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) had its price target lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $141.00 to $137.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on EXE. Roth Capital cut Expand Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $98.00 in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Expand Energy from $121.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on Expand Energy from $145.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price target on Expand Energy from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.54.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of EXE stock opened at $107.44 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $98.89 and its 200-day moving average is $106.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.59 billion, a PE ratio of 275.49 and a beta of 0.47. Expand Energy has a 52 week low of $82.69 and a 52 week high of $123.35.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 2.41%. Equities research analysts expect that Expand Energy will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Expand Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 589.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Domenic J. Dell’osso, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $95.86 per share, with a total value of $239,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 166,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,981,299.90. This represents a 1.52% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Joshua J. Viets bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $92.16 per share, for a total transaction of $184,320.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 61,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,684,060.16. This trade represents a 3.35% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expand Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,266,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,600,000 after buying an additional 559,887 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth about $1,310,932,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth about $701,831,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Expand Energy by 3.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,812,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $677,029,000 after buying an additional 170,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the first quarter worth about $624,083,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.