Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,913,081 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 24,668 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.43% of Cheniere Energy worth $5,092,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 48.3% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 385.9% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 7,026 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 5,580 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 24.5% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 5,304 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $1,468,000. 87.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LNG shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $268.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $261.00 to $257.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $268.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director W Benjamin Moreland acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $208.22 per share, with a total value of $1,041,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,052,216.32. This trade represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 1.2%

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $209.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $45.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $223.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.31. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $188.70 and a one year high of $257.65.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $2.00. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.87 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.555 dividend. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.37%.

Cheniere Energy Company 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.