California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 527,345 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 38,579 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $128,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 134.1% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 473.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 109 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy in the second quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director W Benjamin Moreland purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $208.22 per share, with a total value of $1,041,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,052,216.32. This represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LNG shares. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $268.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $278.00 target price (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Cheniere Energy from $261.00 to $257.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.47.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $205.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $44.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $217.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.02. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $188.70 and a 1 year high of $257.65.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $2.00. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.87 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 21.12% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $0.555 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.37%.

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.