TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Acquires 8,675 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 512,680 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,675 shares during the quarter. Cheniere Energy accounts for about 1.8% of TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned about 0.23% of Cheniere Energy worth $124,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,937,749 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,844,995,000 after purchasing an additional 54,801 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,492,443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $808,151,000 after buying an additional 255,140 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 12.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,185,605 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $737,149,000 after buying an additional 359,435 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,703,299 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $595,245,000 after buying an additional 7,297 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 25.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,395,267 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $554,265,000 after acquiring an additional 488,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LNG. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $262.00 price target (up from $253.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $267.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $268.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.73.

Cheniere Energy Stock Up 0.2%

LNG stock opened at $212.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $226.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.18. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $188.70 and a 12 month high of $257.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.36.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $2.00. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.87 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Cheniere Energy news, Director W Benjamin Moreland purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 $2,052,216.32. This represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cheniere Energy Profile

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.