Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Shares Sold by Dana Investment Advisors Inc.

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 21.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,104 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 5,347 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $3,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 210,905 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $10,501,000 after acquiring an additional 69,567 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 156.3% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 305 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 24,714 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,086,000 after buying an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on LNG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.25.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

NYSE LNG opened at $181.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $180.81 and a 200 day moving average of $169.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $152.31 and a twelve month high of $187.44.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.12. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 27.05% and a return on equity of 39.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.775 dividend. This is an increase from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.48%.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, June 17th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to repurchase up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Profile

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.