7,000 Shares in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG Purchased by Investment House LLC

Investment House LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,000 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 7.3% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 688 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 3.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,488 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 6.1% during the third quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 875 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 2.3% during the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 5.2% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,111 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

LNG opened at $246.82 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $51.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.60 and a beta of 0.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.03. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.20 and a 52-week high of $300.89.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($20.90). The company had revenue of $5.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 38.95%. Cheniere Energy’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 15.2 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to repurchase up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In other news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 87,146 shares in the company, valued at $26,143,800. This represents a 24.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.98, for a total transaction of $6,473,141.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 64,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LNG. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Cheniere Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $271.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $293.50.

Cheniere Energy Company Profile

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.