Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Stock Price

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) had its price objective increased by Citigroup from $280.00 to $330.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LNG. Morgan Stanley upgraded Cheniere Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $236.00 to $313.00 in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $276.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wolfe Research set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $271.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.24.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $281.55 on Thursday. Cheniere Energy has a twelve month low of $186.20 and a twelve month high of $300.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $241.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.60. The firm has a market cap of $59.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 0.14.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $10.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.90 by $6.78. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 32.04% and a net margin of 26.68%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.14%.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to repurchase up to 21.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $8,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 87,146 shares in the company, valued at $26,143,800. The trade was a 24.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of the business’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 directly owned 64,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,622,720. This represents a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheniere Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LNG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 2.0% in the fourth 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 period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,174,695 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,200,299,000 after purchasing an additional 167,622 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $731,774,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,279,078 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $443,031,000 after purchasing an additional 253,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,263,826 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $440,047,000 after buying an additional 134,695 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

More Cheniere Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cheniere Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi upgraded Cheniere and raised its price target to $330 (from $280), keeping a Buy rating — a notable Wall Street vote of confidence that supports further upside. Wall Street Upgrades Cheniere Energy
• Positive Sentiment: Cheniere reported very strong recent operating and financial results (record production, strong distributable cash flow and an earnings beat), which underpin investor confidence and capacity to expand. Q4/Full-Year Results
• Positive Sentiment: Cheniere reached substantial completion on Train 5 of the Corpus Christi Stage 3 project — a capacity/expansion milestone that supports longer‑term export growth. Train 5 Completion
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. LNG exports recently hit record highs as Middle East supply disruptions boost global demand for U.S. cargoes — a structural tailwind for Cheniere as the largest U.S. exporter. US LNG Exports Record
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts warn that persistently high LNG prices could eventually erode demand or complicate contracting/expansion dynamics — a longer‑term risk to monitor. High Price Risk
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary notes that much of Cheniere’s long‑term benefit from current disruptions may already be priced into the stock, suggesting limited incremental upside absent further tailwinds. Pricing-in Commentary
• Negative Sentiment: Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant is running reduced flows after an outage on one production unit — a near‑term operational hit that could temper near‑term volumes and revenue. Sabine Pass Outage
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales were disclosed recently (EVP Sean Markowitz and CFO Zach Davis sold sizable blocks), which can create short‑term selling pressure or raise governance/ownership questions for some investors. EVP Form 4 CFO Form 4

Cheniere Energy Company 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.