Grimes & Company Inc. Raises Stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Grimes & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,318 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LNG. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $210,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 63,609 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $11,121,000 after buying an additional 16,499 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 129.9% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 54,355 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $9,503,000 after buying an additional 30,714 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 88.3% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 8,872 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,551,000 after buying an additional 4,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $524,000. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE LNG opened at $231.73 on Friday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $152.31 and a 12 month high of $257.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $222.57 and a 200-day moving average of $197.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $51.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.99.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $3.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $2.06. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 41.44%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 12.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LNG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $204.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $232.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.64.

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.