Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Sells 5,246 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 26.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,820 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 5,246 shares during the quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $4,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LNG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $731,774,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 686,459 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake 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 valued at $112,267,000 after purchasing an additional 484,198 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $4,124,870,000 after purchasing an additional 414,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 3,902.4% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 389,676 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $75,749,000 after purchasing an additional 379,940 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LNG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $271.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $286.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.71.

Cheniere Energy Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of LNG opened at $235.56 on Friday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.20 and a 1 year high of $300.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.93. The firm has a market cap of $49.36 billion and a P/E ratio of 38.74.

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

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.51%.

Cheniere Energy declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 21.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $8,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 87,146 shares in the company, valued at $26,143,800. This trade represents a 24.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.