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

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 9,881 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 41% compared to the average volume of 6,987 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark boosted their target price on Expand Energy from $112.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on Expand Energy from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Expand Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of EXE traded up $5.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $110.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,741,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,736,853. The company has a market capitalization of $26.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.27. Expand Energy has a 1-year low of $91.01 and a 1-year high of $126.62.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 8.17%. Analysts expect that Expand Energy will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Expand Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $107.50 per share, with a total value of $215,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Expand Energy by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,913,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,965,510,000 after buying an additional 646,330 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,251,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,345,303,000 after acquiring an additional 5,291,948 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Expand Energy by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,183,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,400,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014,484 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 16.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,359,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,140,000 after buying an additional 619,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Expand Energy by 192.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,286,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160,979 shares during the period. 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.