Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $737.15 Million Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 12.7%, owning approximately 3.18 million shares valued at $737 million as of the latest quarter.
• Cheniere Energy reported earnings of $7.30 per share, significantly surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.35, with revenue reaching $4.64 billion during the last quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, indicating a yield of 0.9% and a low dividend payout ratio of 14.63%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,185,605 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 359,435 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.43% of Cheniere Energy worth $737,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 1,494,901 shares of the energy company's stock worth $345,920,000 after purchasing an additional 105,875 shares in the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 75,585 shares of the energy company's stock worth $17,490,000 after acquiring an additional 16,385 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,505 shares of the energy company's stock worth $5,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 37,378 shares of the energy company's stock worth $8,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,765 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director Neal A. Shear sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.93, for a total transaction of $1,057,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,733 shares in the company, valued at $7,312,236.69. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of LNG stock traded down $4.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $230.84. 2,356,085 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,208,187. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $235.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.85. The stock has a market cap of $51.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 0.43. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.14 and a 12 month high of $257.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $4.95. The firm had revenue of $4.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 39.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio is 14.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LNG. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $258.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $288.00 price target on shares of Cheniere Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $260.71.

Cheniere Energy Company 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.