Cetera Investment Advisers Cuts Position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 9.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,786 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 6,813 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $11,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 1,490.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,957,451 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $342,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,347 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 231.8% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,338,752 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $215,914,000 after acquiring an additional 935,239 shares during the period. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 74.6% during the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 1,514,155 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $264,720,000 after buying an additional 647,096 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,222,723 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $197,201,000 after purchasing an additional 465,000 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $70,682,000. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.00.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

LNG stock opened at $188.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18 and a beta of 0.94. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $152.31 and a fifty-two week high of $188.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $181.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

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

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.775 per share. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.48%.

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