Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $236.33.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Thursday, March 6th.

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In related news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $629,197,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 195.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,200,456 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $755,410,000 after buying an additional 2,776,920 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 91.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,747,370 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $673,927,000 after buying an additional 1,789,919 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1,400.7% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,509,717 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $324,393,000 after buying an additional 1,409,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,651,500 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $354,858,000 after purchasing an additional 756,900 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNG opened at $222.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $49.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.94. Cheniere Energy has a 1-year low of $152.88 and a 1-year high of $257.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $224.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.90.

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

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 14.05%.

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.