Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,717 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 918 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $13,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $2,127,000. Fractal Investments LLC boosted its position in Cheniere Energy by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 59,200 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $12,720,000 after acquiring an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Hoagland & Co. acquired a new position in Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $2,460,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Cheniere Energy by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 36,664 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,812,000 after acquiring an additional 8,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $4,455,000. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total transaction of $1,975,590.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,448,852.34. This represents a 20.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $232.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.75.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $217.85 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.90. The company has a market capitalization of $48.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 0.98. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.88 and a 1 year high of $257.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $1.59. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 37.19%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 14.05%.

About Cheniere Energy

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.