Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,484,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 74.6% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Expand Energy by 350.9% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in Expand Energy by 379.6% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 259 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Expand Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Expand Energy during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expand Energy Price Performance

Shares of Expand Energy stock opened at $93.07 on Wednesday. Expand Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $84.99 and a twelve month high of $126.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.62.

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

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is presently 19.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EXE shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Expand Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Expand Energy from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. William Blair downgraded Expand Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Expand Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expand Energy news, CEO Michael Wichterich bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.90 per share, with a total value of $88,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Marcel Teunissen purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the acquisition, 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 position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $375,120. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Expand Energy 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.