State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 6,195 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 7.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 76,520 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 6,195 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $17,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altman Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 10,162 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,212 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $975,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 390 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 3,545 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LNG. Bank of America increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $258.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $255.00 to $247.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $261.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheniere Energy news, Director Neal A. Shear sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.93, for a total transaction of $1,057,499.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 29,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,312,236.69. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNG opened at $230.31 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.14 and a 12 month high of $257.65. The company has a market cap of $50.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.43.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy company reported $7.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $4.95. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 21.05%. The business had revenue of $4.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.68%.

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.