Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Stock Price Up 4.2% Following Dividend Announcement

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)’s stock price rose 4.2% on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $162.16 and last traded at $161.65. Approximately 199,997 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 1,842,718 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.09.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.435 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LNG. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $223.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $204.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $162.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.64.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $158.06. The firm has a market cap of $36.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 0.96.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The energy company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.97 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 48.19% and a net margin of 28.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 41.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,529,191 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,845,958,000 after acquiring an additional 151,311 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,052,497 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $672,559,000 after acquiring an additional 220,802 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,960,944 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $316,261,000 after acquiring an additional 192,934 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,950,011 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $332,886,000 after acquiring an additional 64,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,910,000. Hedge funds and other 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.