Traders Buy Large Volume of Expand Energy Put Options (NASDAQ:EXE)

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 12,462 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 48% compared to the average daily volume of 8,406 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on EXE. William Blair cut shares of Expand Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.00.

Expand Energy Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ EXE traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $94.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 722,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,745,819. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Expand Energy has a 52 week low of $84.99 and a 52 week high of $126.62. The stock has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 0.34.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 20.46% and a return on equity of 10.33%. Equities analysts forecast that Expand Energy will post 8.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. Expand Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at $7,600,772.20. This trade represents a 1.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $96.43 per share, with a total value of $192,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $881,755.92. This trade 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 have bought 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $375,120. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expand Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXE. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in Expand Energy by 74.6% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 350.9% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Expand Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Expand Energy by 379.6% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 259 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Expand Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors 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.