Clough Capital Partners L P Grows Stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Clough Capital Partners L P increased its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,360 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,130 shares during the period. Clough Capital Partners L P’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $9,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $731,774,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 555.0% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 810,138 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $157,483,000 after acquiring an additional 686,459 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 577,533 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $112,267,000 after acquiring an additional 484,198 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,219,557 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,124,870,000 after acquiring an additional 414,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 6.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,007,073 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,411,542,000 after acquiring an additional 377,369 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $231.67 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $248.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.57. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.20 and a fifty-two week high of $300.89. The company has a market capitalization of $48.55 billion and a PE ratio of 38.10.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($20.90). Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 38.95%. The company had revenue of $5.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 14.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 36.51%.

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In other news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $8,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 87,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,143,800. The trade was a 24.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.98, for a total transaction of $6,473,141.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 64,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,622,720. This represents a 25.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Benchmark reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.71.

Cheniere Energy Company Profile

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.