W Benjamin Moreland Purchases 5,000 Shares of Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Stock

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Director W Benjamin Moreland purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $208.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,041,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,052,216.32. This represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE LNG opened at $208.08 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $228.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.54. The stock has a market cap of $44.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.36.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The energy company reported $4.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $2.00. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.87 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 21.05%.Cheniere Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LNG. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Monday. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $268.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.73.

Institutional Trading of Cheniere Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LNG. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 134.1% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 473.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 109 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Company 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.