Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG Stake Boosted by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,086 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,432 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $10,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $731,774,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 555.0% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 810,138 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $157,483,000 after buying an additional 686,459 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 577,533 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $112,267,000 after buying an additional 484,198 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,219,557 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,124,870,000 after buying an additional 414,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 3,902.4% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 389,676 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $75,749,000 after buying an additional 379,940 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Cheniere Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $276.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $283.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE LNG opened at $243.38 on Thursday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.20 and a 1-year 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 company has a market capitalization of $51.00 billion, a PE ratio of 40.03 and a beta of -0.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.22.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($20.90). The firm had revenue of $5.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 38.95% and a net margin of 7.23%.Cheniere Energy’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 14.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.51%.

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.