Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Stock Now Rated “Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $324.41.

LNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $311.00 to $327.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Cheniere Energy from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $336.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Finally, Argus set a $330.00 price objective on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Grp LLC boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 5,018 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 1,632 shares during the last quarter. Bernicke Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $743,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.4% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 9,844 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,648,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 100.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,107 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.8% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 619,591 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $166,656,000 after acquiring an additional 17,039 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LNG opened at $278.00 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $283.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.02. Cheniere Energy has a 1 year low of $186.20 and a 1 year high of $330.73. The company has a market capitalization of $56.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy company reported $3.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 26.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cheniere Energy will post 21.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be given a dividend of $0.6250 per share. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.5550. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 9th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is 15.49%.

About Cheniere Energy

Cheniere Energy, Inc is a U.S. energy company focused on producing and exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). Its operations include the Sabine Pass LNG facility in Louisiana and the Corpus Christi LNG facility in Texas, where natural gas is processed and liquefied for shipment.

The company supplies LNG to customers in international markets, including countries in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Its activities also include sourcing natural gas and marketing LNG under long-term and other sales agreements.

Founded in 1996, Cheniere initially developed LNG import infrastructure before shifting its focus to U.S.