Morgan Stanley Cuts Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Price Target to $308.00

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $313.00 to $308.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the energy company’s stock.

LNG has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $276.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $338.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.56.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $257.29 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $257.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.94. 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 fifty-two week low of $186.20 and a fifty-two week high of $300.89.

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

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $8,700,000.00. Following the transaction, 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LNG. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $335,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 13.3% in the second 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 position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 23.1% in the second 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 increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.8% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 87.0% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 36,502 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,889,000 after acquiring an additional 16,977 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Company Profile

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.