Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $297.7059.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LNG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $283.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $296.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Viking Fund Management LLC raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 45,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,748,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 56,930 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $11,067,000 after purchasing an additional 15,927 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 227.7% in the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 15,505 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,014,000 after purchasing an additional 10,774 shares during the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 127.4% in the 4th quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 8,751 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 63,163 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $14,842,000 after purchasing an additional 9,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $238.67 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $242.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.86. The company has a market capitalization of $50.01 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.25. Cheniere Energy has a 1 year low of $186.20 and a 1 year high of $300.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.57.

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

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.