Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) had its price objective raised by Bank of America from $258.00 to $271.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the energy company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $255.00 to $247.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $277.00 price target on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.08.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $236.72 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.92. Cheniere Energy has a 1 year low of $167.66 and a 1 year high of $257.65. The company has a market capitalization of $52.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.81 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 18.37% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The company’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is 14.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Neal A. Shear sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.93, for a total transaction of $1,057,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,312,236.69. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheniere Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $335,000. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 3,449 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,091 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

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.