Traders Buy High Volume of Cheniere Energy Call Options (NYSE:LNG)

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 6,119 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 92% compared to the average volume of 3,181 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on LNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $284.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wolfe Research set a $220.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on Cheniere Energy from $274.00 to $271.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.59.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 1.8%

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $202.93 on Wednesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $186.20 and a fifty-two week high of $254.53. The stock has a market cap of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $199.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.59.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $2.00. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.87 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 21.12%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is presently 12.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheniere Energy news, Director W Benjamin Moreland bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,052,216.32. This trade represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LNG. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 24,745 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,810,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 6,423 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 21,647 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.