Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $298.8824.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LNG. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. UBS Group set a $290.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Benchmark reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Cheniere Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $731,774,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 174.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,244,268 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $636,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,058 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 555.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 810,138 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $157,483,000 after buying an additional 686,459 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 6,513.7% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 564,742 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $160,251,000 after buying an additional 556,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 577,533 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $112,267,000 after buying an additional 484,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

LNG opened at $269.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $56.43 billion, a PE ratio of 44.29 and a beta of -0.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $244.52 and a 200-day moving average of $242.07. Cheniere Energy has a 52-week low of $186.20 and a 52-week high of $300.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.51%.

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.