Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Purchases New Shares in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 32,793 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,046,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $441,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 20,391 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the second quarter valued at $1,708,000. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 57.8% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,164 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Cheniere Energy in the second quarter worth about $744,000. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $226.84. 645,553 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,341,399. The stock has a market cap of $50.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $214.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $152.31 and a fifty-two week high of $229.63.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $3.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $2.06. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 41.44% and a net margin of 22.70%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $232.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $204.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Friday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $242.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.55.

Cheniere Energy Company Profile

Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal with several interstate and intrastate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.