Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $239.79.

LNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total transaction of $1,975,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,448,852.34. The trade was a 20.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,127,000. Fractal Investments LLC grew its stake in Cheniere Energy by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 59,200 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $12,720,000 after acquiring an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Anderson Hoagland & Co. acquired a new stake in Cheniere Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $2,460,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Cheniere Energy by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 36,664 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,812,000 after acquiring an additional 8,756 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Cheniere Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $4,455,000. 87.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:LNG opened at $227.29 on Thursday. Cheniere Energy has a fifty-two week low of $152.88 and a fifty-two week high of $257.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.31.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $1.59. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 37.19%. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.05%.

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.