Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Increases Stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 407,396 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,744 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $79,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $731,774,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 2.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,025,609 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $475,633,000 after acquiring an additional 359,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 816,028 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $191,750,000 after acquiring an additional 285,062 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,143,800. This represents a 24.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 64,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,622,720. This trade represents a 25.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cheniere Energy Stock Down 2.2%

LNG stock opened at $224.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.03 billion, a PE ratio of 36.91 and a beta of 0.07. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.20 and a twelve month high of $300.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.40.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 15.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to repurchase up to 21.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $286.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Cheniere Energy from $276.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Cheniere Energy from $296.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Cheniere Energy from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $293.50.

Cheniere Energy 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.