OP Asset Management Ltd Acquires New Shares in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 22,259 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,316,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,219,557 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,124,870,000 after acquiring an additional 414,022 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,174,695 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,200,299,000 after acquiring an additional 167,622 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $731,774,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,279,078 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $443,031,000 after acquiring an additional 253,469 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,263,826 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $440,047,000 after acquiring an additional 134,695 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 87,146 shares in the company, valued at $26,143,800. The trade was a 24.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LNG shares. UBS Group set a $290.00 price target on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $286.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $271.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.71.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:LNG opened at $235.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $243.84 and a 200 day moving average of $232.93. The company has a market cap of $49.36 billion and a PE ratio of 38.74. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.20 and a 12-month 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.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) EPS 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 firm had revenue of $5.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. Cheniere Energy’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 14.93 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 21.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

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