Scotiabank Boosts Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Price Target to $290.00

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $288.00 to $290.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the energy company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective points to a potential upside of 21.01% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on LNG. Bank of America increased their price target on Cheniere Energy from $296.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Cheniere Energy from $286.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wolfe Research set a $220.00 price target on Cheniere Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings cut Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group set a $290.00 price target on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.50.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

LNG stock traded down $4.67 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $239.64. 1,357,962 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,714,075. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. Cheniere Energy has a 52 week low of $186.20 and a 52 week high of $300.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $264.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.37 and a beta of 0.07.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($20.90). The company had revenue of $5.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 38.95% and a net margin of 7.23%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy will post 14.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to purchase up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheniere Energy news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $8,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 87,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,143,800. This trade represents a 24.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.98, for a total value of $6,473,141.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 64,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,622,720. The trade was a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Viking Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 45,000 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $8,748,000 after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 49.6% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 556,285 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $130,727,000 after buying an additional 184,520 shares in the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 56,930 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $11,067,000 after buying an additional 15,927 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 35.3% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,819 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,244,000 after buying an additional 51,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 12.6% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,460,762 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $343,250,000 after purchasing an additional 163,861 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.