Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 687,069 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 14.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,000,319 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 687,069 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.82% of Cheniere Energy worth $939,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LNG. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 718.1% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,669 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,723,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 777,200 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $182,626,000 after acquiring an additional 300,100 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 3.3% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,440 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $9,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.9% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 109,285 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,360,000 after purchasing an additional 4,083 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director W Benjamin Moreland acquired 5,000 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $208.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,041,100.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,052,216.32. The trade was a 102.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on LNG. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $278.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Erste Group Bank lowered Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $290.00 price objective on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.59.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

NYSE LNG opened at $206.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.44 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $200.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.94. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.20 and a 52-week high of $257.65.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $2.00. The company 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 37.52% and a net margin of 21.12%.Cheniere Energy’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This is an increase from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is presently 12.37%.

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.