Vontobel Holding Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,037 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 2,156 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $4,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Martin Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 615.4% in the fourth quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 28,223 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $6,064,000 after purchasing an additional 24,278 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 37,378 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $8,032,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 293,201 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $63,000,000 after buying an additional 62,338 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 51,781 shares of the energy company's stock worth $11,982,000 after acquiring an additional 3,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 17.7% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 15,201 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 2,284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNG has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $277.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $252.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $258.36.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNG stock traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $239.46. 1,049,816 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,848,015. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.66 and a 1 year high of $257.65. The company has a market cap of $53.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52 and a beta of 0.42. The company's 50 day moving average is $235.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $227.02.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 18.37% and a return on equity of 32.62%. Cheniere Energy's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.