Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Short Interest Up 24.1% in March

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,552,333 shares, an increase of 24.1% from the February 26th total of 3,668,001 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,837,031 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of LNG stock traded down $10.22 on Wednesday, reaching $273.54. 2,168,375 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,781,502. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Cheniere Energy has a one year low of $186.20 and a one year high of $300.89. The stock has a market cap of $57.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $238.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.80.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $10.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $6.78. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.48 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 32.04% and a net margin of 26.68%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 9.14%.

Cheniere Energy announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to reacquire up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LNG. Citigroup lowered their target price on Cheniere Energy from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $277.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $279.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $282.00 to $271.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LNG. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 4th quarter worth $673,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 322,794 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $62,748,000 after purchasing an additional 90,392 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 400.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 500 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 2,240 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 37,964 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,374,000 after buying an additional 10,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

About Cheniere Energy

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.