Wall Street Zen Downgrades Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) to Sell

Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on EE. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Excelerate Energy from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Dnb Carnegie lowered Excelerate Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Excelerate Energy in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Northland Securities set a $50.00 target price on Excelerate Energy in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Excelerate Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Excelerate Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

Excelerate Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Excelerate Energy stock opened at $32.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Excelerate Energy has a 52 week low of $21.28 and a 52 week high of $43.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.41.

Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Excelerate Energy had a return on equity of 4.12% and a net margin of 3.19%.The company had revenue of $317.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Excelerate Energy will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Excelerate Energy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Excelerate Energy news, insider Oliver Simpson sold 6,000 shares of Excelerate Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.15, for a total value of $204,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,766,203.85. The trade was a 10.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.83% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Excelerate Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arax Advisory Partners raised its stake in Excelerate Energy by 791.9% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Excelerate Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Excelerate Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Excelerate Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Excelerate Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.79% of the company’s stock.

About Excelerate Energy

Excelerate Energy (NYSE: EE) is a Houston‐based energy infrastructure company specializing in liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions. The company develops, owns and operates floating regasification units (FSRUs) that convert shipped LNG into natural gas for delivery into existing pipeline networks. Excelerate Energy’s integrated platform also includes specialized LNG carriers, proprietary regasification technology and on‐shore support facilities, enabling rapid deployment of import terminals without extensive capital construction.

Founded in the early 2000s, Excelerate Energy pioneered the first FSRU in 2007, demonstrating the flexibility and cost advantages of floating LNG import infrastructure.