Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:CQP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:CQP) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.20.

A number of analysts have weighed in on CQP shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Cheniere Energy Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy Partners from $51.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th.

Cheniere Energy Partners Stock Performance

Shares of Cheniere Energy Partners stock opened at $48.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.51. Cheniere Energy Partners has a twelve month low of $43.42 and a twelve month high of $62.34.

Cheniere Energy Partners (NYSE:CQP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.25. Cheniere Energy Partners had a net margin of 44.02% and a negative return on equity of 292.30%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Cheniere Energy Partners will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a $0.775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.37%. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Cheniere Energy Partners’s payout ratio is currently 44.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CQP. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy Partners by 13.1% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 6,952,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,776,000 after acquiring an additional 802,824 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy Partners by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,211,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,119,000 after buying an additional 298,335 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Cheniere Energy Partners by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 615,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,624,000 after buying an additional 167,567 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy Partners by 170.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 391,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,232,000 after buying an additional 246,808 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy Partners by 17.2% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 244,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,267,000 after acquiring an additional 35,930 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.55% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Partners Company Profile

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P., through its subsidiaries, provides liquefied natural gas (LNG) to integrated energy companies, utilities, and energy trading companies worldwide. The company owns and operates natural gas liquefaction and export facility at the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.