Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG – Get Rating) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $201.62.

LNG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 20th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 9th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $200.00 to $192.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $382,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,791,473. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LNG. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 175 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.25% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $154.23 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $154.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.10 and a beta of 1.00. Cheniere Energy has a fifty-two week low of $120.09 and a fifty-two week high of $182.35.

Cheniere Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The energy company reported $15.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.08 by $8.70. Cheniere Energy had a negative net margin of 12.40% and a negative return on equity of 249.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($5.22) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cheniere Energy will post -7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 7th were paid a $0.395 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 6th. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -10.35%.

About Cheniere Energy

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Cheniere Energy, Inc engages in liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses. It owns and operates LNG terminals, develops, constructs, and operates liquefaction projects near Corpus Christi, Texas, and at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. The company was founded by Charif Souki in 1996 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.