Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 107,288 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,562 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $23,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 31,772 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,827,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 110,105 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $23,658,000 after purchasing an additional 5,964 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $978,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 32,357 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,953,000 after purchasing an additional 2,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,853,000. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.79.

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In related news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total transaction of $1,975,590.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,448,852.34. The trade was a 20.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of LNG stock opened at $227.24 on Friday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.88 and a 1 year high of $257.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $225.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $50.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $1.59. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 37.19%. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.05%.

Cheniere Energy Profile

Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal with several interstate and intrastate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.