Alps Advisors Inc. Has $24.80 Million Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 27.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 127,579 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 27,206 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $24,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 263,476 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $51,217,000 after buying an additional 13,360 shares during the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $432,000. Nuveen LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,491,517 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $289,936,000 after buying an additional 251,583 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 203,856 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $39,628,000 after buying an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LNG shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $298.63.

Cheniere Energy Stock Down 0.8%

LNG opened at $239.78 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $251.98 and its 200 day moving average is $231.14. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.20 and a fifty-two week high of $300.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.25 billion and a P/E ratio of 39.44.

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

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

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

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Cheniere Energy news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 87,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,143,800. The trade was a 24.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was 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. This represents a 25.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.