Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 163,605 Shares of Expand Energy Corporation $EXE

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 605,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 163,605 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Expand Energy were worth $66,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. apricus wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 38,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,291,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Expand Energy by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Expand Energy by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Expand Energy by 144.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Expand Energy by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expand Energy

In other news, CEO Michael Wichterich acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $107.50 per share, for a total transaction of $215,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Expand Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Expand Energy from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Expand Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $141.00 target price on shares of Expand Energy in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $112.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Expand Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $131.48.

Expand Energy Stock Performance

Expand Energy stock opened at $111.45 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $26.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.14. Expand Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $91.01 and a fifty-two week high of $126.62.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Expand Energy had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 15.00%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Expand Energy Corporation will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

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

About Expand Energy

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.