Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Receives $239.79 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $239.79.

A number of brokerages recently commented on LNG. StockNews.com upgraded Cheniere Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $277.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total transaction of $1,975,590.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,448,852.34. This represents a 20.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 26.8% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,800 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,124 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 267,885 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $48,185,000 after purchasing an additional 6,025 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,670,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $333,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cheniere Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $868,000. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

NYSE LNG traded up $7.39 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $220.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,731,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,881,871. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.47. Cheniere Energy has a fifty-two week low of $152.88 and a fifty-two week high of $257.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market cap of $49.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.67.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.74 by $1.59. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 20.71%. Equities analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.05%.

About Cheniere Energy

Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal with several interstate and intrastate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.