Cohen & Steers Inc. Purchases 17,561 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Key Points

• Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its Cheniere Energy stake by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 17,561 additional shares and bringing its holding to 290,837 shares worth about $56.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 87.26%, and several large investors also added to positions, including Vanguard, State Street, and Norges Bank.
• Cheniere reported a quarterly earnings miss, but analysts remain largely positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with a $298.63 target price, while the company also has a $10 billion share repurchase authorization and recently paid a quarterly dividend.

Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 290,837 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,561 shares during the quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. owned about 0.14% of Cheniere Energy worth $56,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LNG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $731,774,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,219,557 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,124,870,000 after purchasing an additional 414,022 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,007,073 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,411,542,000 after purchasing an additional 377,369 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,025,609 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $475,633,000 after acquiring an additional 359,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 816,028 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $191,750,000 after acquiring an additional 285,062 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cheniere Energy

In other Cheniere Energy news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $8,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 87,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,143,800. This represents a 24.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.98, for a total value of $6,473,141.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 64,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,622,720. The trade was a 25.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on LNG. Weiss Ratings cut Cheniere Energy from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. UBS Group set a $290.00 price objective on Cheniere Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $298.63.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Cheniere Energy stock opened at $240.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.57. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.20 and a 52 week high of $300.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.47 billion and a P/E ratio of 39.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $251.29 and a 200-day moving average of $231.21.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($20.90). Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 38.95% and a net margin of 7.23%.The firm had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Cheniere Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 14.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 21.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Cheniere Energy Profile

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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