7,767 Shares in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG Purchased by North Dakota State Investment Board

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,767 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,510,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,219,557 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,124,870,000 after buying an additional 414,022 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,007,073 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,411,542,000 after buying an additional 377,369 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,025,609 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $475,633,000 after buying an additional 359,123 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,786,636 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $419,824,000 after buying an additional 95,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,776,978 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $417,554,000 after buying an additional 47,619 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LNG. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $296.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $313.00 to $308.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $338.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $293.50.

Insider Transactions at Cheniere Energy

In related news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $8,700,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 87,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,143,800. The trade was a 24.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.98, for a total transaction of $6,473,141.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 64,000 shares in the company, valued at $18,622,720. The trade was a 25.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

LNG stock opened at $246.82 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $263.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.03. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.20 and a 12-month high of $300.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.60 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($20.90). Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 38.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. Cheniere Energy’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 15.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Cheniere Energy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to reacquire up to 21.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cheniere Energy 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.