TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 1.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 512,680 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 8,675 shares during the quarter. Cheniere Energy accounts for about 1.8% of TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $124,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LNG. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 134.1% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 103 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Cheniere Energy by 473.7% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 109 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of LNG stock opened at $212.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.18. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $188.70 and a 1 year high of $257.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $2.00. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.87 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 21.05%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This is a boost from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is presently 12.37%.

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director W Benjamin Moreland acquired 5,000 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $208.22 per share, with a total value of $1,041,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,052,216.32. The trade was a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $268.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $268.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $267.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. 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, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.73.

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.