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

Posted by Stanley Muller on Sep 2nd, 2026

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE – Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 15,585 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 96% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,966 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Johnson Rice cut Expand Energy from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, August 17th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Expand Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Expand Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Expand Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price objective on Expand Energy from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.89.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Expand Energy

Expand Energy Trading Down 0.4%

Expand Energy stock traded down $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.59. 724,680 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,592,116. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Expand Energy has a 52-week low of $84.99 and a 52-week high of $126.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.06. The company has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.34.

Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Expand Energy had a net margin of 20.46% and a return on equity of 10.33%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Expand Energy will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expand Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be paid a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Expand Energy’s payout ratio is currently 19.86%.

Insider Transactions at Expand Energy

In other Expand Energy news, CEO Michael Wichterich purchased 1,000 shares of Expand Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.90 per share, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,600,772.20. The trade was a 1.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expand Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its stake in Expand Energy by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 77,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,523,000 after purchasing an additional 15,904 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in Expand Energy by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 239,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,443,000 after purchasing an additional 34,132 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Expand Energy by 36,574.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,420,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,172,000 after acquiring an additional 2,414,311 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in Expand Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $3,739,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in Expand Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,153,000. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expand Energy Company Profile

(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.