Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Cheniere Energy, with 16 buy, two strong-buy and three hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is $301.56, above the reported opening price of $274.10.
• Cheniere reported quarterly EPS of $3.02, slightly below the $3.11 consensus estimate, while revenue of $5.73 billion exceeded expectations and increased 23.5% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.555 per share, equivalent to a $2.22 annualized payout and a 0.8% yield; institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the stock.

Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $301.5556.

LNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $283.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Benchmark reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th.

Cheniere Energy Stock Up 0.1%

LNG opened at $274.10 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $56.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Cheniere Energy has a 52 week low of $186.20 and a 52 week high of $300.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $253.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.07.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy company reported $3.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.11 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 13.57% and a return on equity of 29.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.30 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy will post 16.36 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio is 16.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LNG. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $1,472,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 76,812 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $14,930,000 after purchasing an additional 11,270 shares during the period. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2,313.7% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 98,285 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $19,106,000 after purchasing an additional 94,213 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter worth $731,774,000. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $2,646,000. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cheniere Energy

Cheniere Energy, Inc is a U.S.-based energy company that develops, owns and operates liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and markets LNG to global customers. The company's core activities include natural gas liquefaction, long‑term and short‑term LNG sales and marketing, and the associated midstream services required to move gas from production basins to international markets. Cheniere focuses on converting domestic natural gas into LNG for export, providing a bridge between North American supply and overseas demand.

Cheniere's principal operating assets are large-scale LNG export terminals located on the U.S.

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