Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $272.40, but opened at $261.93. Cheniere Energy shares last traded at $262.8680, with a volume of 536,793 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LNG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $283.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $300.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $290.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.65.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $260.75.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy company reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 29.80% and a net margin of 13.57%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.5550 per share. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 30.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 433,283 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $103,559,000 after buying an additional 100,806 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 5,166.7% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Talon Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 33.9% during the 2nd quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,525 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,754,000 after acquiring an additional 2,920 shares during the period. Finally, Palogic Value Management L.P. acquired a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $825,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

About Cheniere Energy

Cheniere Energy, Inc is a Houston-based energy company focused on the production, liquefaction and export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Through its subsidiaries, the company purchases natural gas, processes it into LNG and sells it to customers under long-term agreements and in the global LNG market. Its operations also include LNG-related infrastructure, marketing and transportation activities.

Cheniere’s principal assets include the Sabine Pass LNG facility in Louisiana and the Corpus Christi LNG facility in Texas.