Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Given a $288.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group set a $288.00 target price on Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the energy company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on LNG. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $243.00 to $242.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $267.00 price target on shares of Cheniere Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $252.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.36.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 2.4%

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $242.05 on Thursday. Cheniere Energy has a 12-month low of $167.66 and a 12-month high of $257.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.11.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by ($1.24). Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 18.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cheniere Energy will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is 14.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other Cheniere Energy news, Director Neal A. Shear sold 4,300 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.93, for a total transaction of $1,057,499.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,312,236.69. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheniere Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altman Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 10,162 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,212 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 14.0% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 390 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 5.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,007 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 3,545 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.