Legal & General Group Plc Sells 584,542 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 26.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,593,259 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 584,542 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.71% of Cheniere Energy worth $342,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 170.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 119 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 373.1% during the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2,022.2% in the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 191 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on LNG. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho upped their target price 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. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.79.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNG stock traded up $7.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $220.23. 2,731,654 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,881,872. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $152.88 and a fifty-two week high of $257.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock's fifty day moving average is $219.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.47. The company 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $1.59. The firm 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

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

Cheniere Energy Profile

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.