Bridges Investment Management Inc. Invests $1.59 Million in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,118 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,594,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,529,191 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,845,958,000 after acquiring an additional 151,311 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,242,899 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $566,956,000 after purchasing an additional 273,588 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 5.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,060,622 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $360,259,000 after buying an additional 99,678 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 13.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,980,767 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $346,268,000 after buying an additional 240,427 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1,490.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,957,451 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $342,221,000 after buying an additional 1,834,347 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNG opened at $180.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.71. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $152.31 and a 12 month high of $187.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, June 17th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to repurchase up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.