Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: Expand Energy — One of the largest independent natural gas producers saw shares jump more than 4% as natural gas prices soared Tuesday. Prices surged 25% to $3.89 per million British thermal units, on pace for the best day in four years. Heating demand is expected to spike due to a blast of frigid weather across the U.S. Gold mining stocks — With the price of gold hitting a fresh record high and trading above $4,700 per troy ounce, gold mining stocks were rallying. IAMGOLD rose more than 15%, Anglogold Ashanti added almost 7%, while Gold Fields gained 6%. Intel — Shares rose more than 5% as Seaport Research upgraded the technology stock to buy from neutral. It also set a price target of $65, implying a nearly 40% increase from Friday’s close. Coterra Energy — Shares of the shale oil exploration company continued to rise, adding another 3%, on speculation it would combine with Devon Energy . Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg first reported the potential merger on Thursday . Devon shares added about 2% on Tuesday. IT hardware stocks — Shares of IT hardware companies traded lower on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the sector as component costs rise and the firm anticipates softer tech spending. Both Logitech and NetApp shares were downgraded to underweight from equal …
