Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the energy company on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%.

Cheniere Energy has a payout ratio of 105.9% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Cheniere Energy to earn $11.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.9%.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNG opened at $226.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $50.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.99. Cheniere Energy has a 1 year low of $152.31 and a 1 year high of $257.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $222.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $2.06. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 41.44%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. Cheniere Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Cheniere Energy will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Cheniere Energy from $204.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.36.

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.