Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 199,187 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,935 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.09% of Cheniere Energy worth $34,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 151,311 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 9.2% in the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,242,899 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $566,956,000 after acquiring an additional 273,588 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 10.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,960,944 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $316,261,000 after purchasing an additional 192,934 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $308,910,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,601,172 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $255,372,000 after purchasing an additional 181,886 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.25.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNG stock opened at $182.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $180.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.15. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $152.31 and a 52 week high of $187.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $2.13. The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.52 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 39.42% and a net margin of 27.05%. The firm’s revenue was down 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.61 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 17th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to purchase up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.