Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Purchases New Position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 149,569 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,075,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,219,557 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,124,870,000 after purchasing an additional 414,022 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 6.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,007,073 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,411,542,000 after purchasing an additional 377,369 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $731,774,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 21.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,025,609 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $475,633,000 after purchasing an additional 359,123 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 5.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,786,636 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $419,824,000 after purchasing an additional 95,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other Cheniere Energy news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $8,700,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 87,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,143,800. This represents a 24.97% decrease 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. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 64,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,622,720. The trade was a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

NYSE LNG opened at $236.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $255.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.46. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.20 and a 1 year high of $300.89. The company has a market cap of $49.58 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($20.90). Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 38.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. Cheniere Energy’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 14.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to repurchase up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $286.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $313.00 to $308.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of Cheniere Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $271.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.63.

About Cheniere Energy

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.