Expand Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:EXE)

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 25,214 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 263% compared to the typical volume of 6,944 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up from $146.00) on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Expand Energy from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Expand Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Expand Energy from $132.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.44.

Institutional Trading of Expand Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at $28,000. MAI Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Expand Energy in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 255.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 256 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Expand Energy Trading Up 0.9%

EXE opened at $108.74 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.15. Expand Energy has a 12 month low of $91.01 and a 12 month high of $126.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.09. Expand Energy had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 6.31%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Expand Energy will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is 65.34%.

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.