Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,500 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Altman Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.4% in the second quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 10,206 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 1.5% in the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,385 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 6,663 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Titleist Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $202.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.26. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.20 and a 12-month high of $254.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $199.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.59.

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

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Cheniere Energy news, Director W Benjamin Moreland acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $208.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,041,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,052,216.32. This trade represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNG has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $274.00 to $271.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Cheniere Energy from $284.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $266.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.59.

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.