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

Posted by Francis Steltz on Jul 13th, 2026

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE – Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 21,936 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 170% compared to the average daily volume of 8,113 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXE has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Expand Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Expand Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Expand Energy from $134.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.78.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Expand Energy

Expand Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Expand Energy stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $87.10. The stock had a trading volume of 4,019,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,738,429. The company has a market capitalization of $20.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $92.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.66. Expand Energy has a one year low of $84.99 and a one year high of $126.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 10.26%. On average, analysts expect that Expand Energy will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Expand Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expand Energy news, CFO Marcel Teunissen bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $96.43 per share, for a total transaction of $192,860.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 9,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $881,755.92. This represents a 28.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Wichterich bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.90 per share, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. This represents a 1.18% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $375,120. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expand Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXE. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in Expand Energy by 74.6% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Expand Energy by 350.9% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Expand Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Expand Energy in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 97.93% of the company’s stock.

About Expand Energy

(Get Free Report)

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.