Venturi Wealth Management LLC Acquires 1,205 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 1,217.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,304 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 3.2% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,438,428 shares of the energy company's stock worth $978,047,000 after buying an additional 167,575 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 195.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,200,456 shares of the energy company's stock worth $755,410,000 after acquiring an additional 2,776,920 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 91.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,747,370 shares of the energy company's stock worth $673,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789,919 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 11.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,793,989 shares of the energy company's stock worth $322,631,000 after purchasing an additional 178,318 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,664,439 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $357,638,000 after acquiring an additional 631,787 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on LNG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.75.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock traded down $6.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $220.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,487,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,424,408. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 0.98. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $152.31 and a one year high of $257.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $222.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.27.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $1.59. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 41.44% and a net margin of 22.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Cheniere Energy's payout ratio is 12.77%.

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.