Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Receives $298.63 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $298.6250.

LNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research raised Cheniere Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $286.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $276.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $8,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 87,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,143,800. The trade was a 24.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.98, for a total value of $6,473,141.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 64,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,622,720. This represents a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheniere Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Viking Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 45,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,748,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 56,930 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $11,067,000 after purchasing an additional 15,927 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 49.6% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 556,285 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $130,727,000 after purchasing an additional 184,520 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 35.3% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,819 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,244,000 after purchasing an additional 51,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 360,504 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $84,711,000 after purchasing an additional 9,085 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $241.55 on Friday. Cheniere Energy has a 52 week low of $186.20 and a 52 week high of $300.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market cap of $50.62 billion and a P/E ratio of 39.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $252.84 and a 200-day moving average of $230.90.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($20.90). Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 38.95% and a net margin of 7.23%.The company had revenue of $5.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Cheniere Energy will post 14.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 36.51%.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to repurchase up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Cheniere Energy

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.