Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $170.65 Million Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 794,190 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 140,105 shares during the period. Cheniere Energy comprises about 1.3% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Cheniere Energy worth $170,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LNG. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,457,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,651,500 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $354,858,000 after purchasing an additional 756,900 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,080,666 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $232,203,000 after purchasing an additional 259,565 shares in the last quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $335,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,082 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cheniere Energy

In related news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total transaction of $1,975,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,448,852.34. The trade was a 20.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LNG. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Cheniere Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $243.00 to $242.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $277.00 price target on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $255.00 to $247.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $252.23.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNG traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $229.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,351,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,864,700. The company has a market cap of $50.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.93. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.03 and a 52-week high of $257.65.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.81 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 20.71%. Cheniere Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Cheniere Energy's payout ratio is 14.63%.

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.