State Street Corp Sells 227,365 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

State Street Corp trimmed its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,629,704 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 227,365 shares during the period. State Street Corp’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $1,370,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 134.1% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 103 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 473.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 109 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $193.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.94. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $188.70 and a 52-week high of $257.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $214.89 and a 200-day moving average of $228.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.26.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $2.00. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 21.12% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.555 dividend. This is a boost from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. 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 1.2%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director W Benjamin Moreland bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $208.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,041,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,052,216.32. The trade was a 102.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on LNG. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $278.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Friday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $268.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Cheniere Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.47.

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.