Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 143,691 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,229 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $27,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LNG. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 140 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $271.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $313.00 to $308.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $285.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $296.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $220.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.56.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNG opened at $257.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.94. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.20 and a fifty-two week high of $300.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $257.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.78.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $10.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $6.78. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 32.04% and a net margin of 26.68%.The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 14.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a $0.555 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.14%.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to buy up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other Cheniere Energy news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $8,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 87,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,143,800. This trade represents a 24.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.98, for a total transaction of $6,473,141.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 64,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,622,720. This represents a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

About Cheniere Energy

Cheniere Energy, Inc is a U.S.-based energy company that develops, owns and operates liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and markets LNG to global customers. The company’s core activities include natural gas liquefaction, long‑term and short‑term LNG sales and marketing, and the associated midstream services required to move gas from production basins to international markets. Cheniere focuses on converting domestic natural gas into LNG for export, providing a bridge between North American supply and overseas demand.

Cheniere’s principal operating assets are large-scale LNG export terminals located on the U.S.