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

Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $295.5625.

LNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $220.00 target price on Cheniere Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Cheniere Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $276.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $296.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.98, for a total transaction of $6,473,141.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 64,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,622,720. The trade was a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of Cheniere Energy 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 87,146 shares in the company, valued at $26,143,800. This trade represents a 24.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNG. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 8,825 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 183,153 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $44,600,000 after acquiring an additional 34,422 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 103,040 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,092,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 36,502 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $8,889,000 after purchasing an additional 16,977 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $257.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.78. The stock has a market cap of $54.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.14. Cheniere Energy has a 12-month low of $186.20 and a 12-month high of $300.89.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $10.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $6.78. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 32.04% and a net margin of 26.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.33 earnings per share. Cheniere Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Cheniere Energy will post 14.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.14%.

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.