Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 5,782 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Highland Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 20.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,930 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 5,782 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $5,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $957,425,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $384,806,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 704.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 952,092 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $231,853,000 after purchasing an additional 833,723 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 33.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,031,767 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $470,151,000 after purchasing an additional 504,960 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,395,267 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $554,265,000 after purchasing an additional 488,994 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

LNG opened at $190.45 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.20 and a 52-week high of $257.65. The firm has a market cap of $40.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $206.18 and its 200-day moving average is $224.77.

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

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is 12.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director W Benjamin Moreland acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,052,216.32. This trade represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $274.00 to $271.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $254.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $278.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Friday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.53.

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.