Strs Ohio Sells 16,560 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Strs Ohio trimmed its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,975 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 16,560 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned about 0.09% of Cheniere Energy worth $45,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $957,425,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 704.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 952,092 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $231,853,000 after buying an additional 833,723 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $107,319,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 32.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,729,359 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $421,134,000 after acquiring an additional 425,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 22.5% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,663,035 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $404,982,000 after acquiring an additional 305,764 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director W Benjamin Moreland bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $208.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,041,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,052,216.32. This represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LNG shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $254.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America cut their price target on Cheniere Energy from $274.00 to $271.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $278.00 target price (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.59.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNG opened at $207.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $199.48 and a 200-day moving average of $219.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55, a PEG ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.26. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.20 and a fifty-two week high of $246.42.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $2.00. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.87 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 21.12%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This is a boost from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 12.37%.

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.