Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG is Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 806,148 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 10,396 shares during the quarter. Cheniere Energy accounts for 1.5% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $196,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNG. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 718.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,669 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 3.3% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,440 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $9,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 3.9% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 109,285 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,360,000 after acquiring an additional 4,083 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 9.5% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 97,267 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $23,686,000 after purchasing an additional 8,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 10.4% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 420,068 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $102,295,000 after purchasing an additional 39,467 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cheniere Energy

In other Cheniere Energy news, Director W Benjamin Moreland bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $208.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,041,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,052,216.32. This trade represents a 102.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LNG opened at $189.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $40.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $213.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.80. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $188.70 and a 1-year high of $257.65.

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

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LNG. Jefferies Financial Group set a $290.00 target price on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Cheniere Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $278.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.47.

About Cheniere Energy

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.