Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 78.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,149 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 67,123 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $3,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,219,557 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,124,870,000 after acquiring an additional 414,022 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Cheniere Energy by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,174,695 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,200,299,000 after purchasing an additional 167,622 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $731,774,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,279,078 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $443,031,000 after acquiring an additional 253,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,263,826 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $440,047,000 after purchasing an additional 134,695 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNG opened at $235.25 on Wednesday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $186.20 and a one year high of $300.89. The company has a market cap of $49.30 billion and a P/E ratio of 38.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.56.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($20.90). Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 38.95% and a net margin of 7.23%.The company had revenue of $5.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Cheniere Energy’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 14.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 36.51%.

Cheniere Energy declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to purchase up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LNG shares. Benchmark reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $313.00 to $308.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $296.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $8,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 87,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,143,800. This trade represents a 24.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 64,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,622,720. This trade represents a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.