FIL Ltd Decreases Position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

FIL Ltd reduced its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,689,544 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 154,581 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $363,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,800 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,662,000 after buying an additional 3,124 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $333,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $868,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,062 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,529,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 48,124 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,655,000 after purchasing an additional 6,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LNG. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.79.

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total value of $1,975,590.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,934 shares in the company, valued at $7,448,852.34. The trade was a 20.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

NYSE:LNG opened at $201.63 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.58. The stock has a market cap of $45.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 0.67. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $152.88 and a 52 week high of $257.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $1.59. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 37.19%. The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.05%.

Cheniere Energy 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.