Baird Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 34.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 85,244 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,055 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $18,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LNG. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Beaconlight Capital LLC grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Beaconlight Capital LLC now owns 105,197 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $22,604,000 after buying an additional 35,815 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 3,545 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 161.0% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 31,816 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

LNG opened at $234.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 0.41. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.03 and a fifty-two week high of $257.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $224.01 and a 200 day moving average of $218.90.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $1.59. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cheniere Energy from $252.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $243.00 to $242.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cheniere Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $251.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total value of $1,975,590.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,448,852.34. This represents a 20.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.