Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $79.19 Million Stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Key Points

• Institutional ownership remains high: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its Cheniere Energy stake by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 407,396 shares worth about $79.2 million. Overall, institutional investors own 87.26% of the stock.
• Mixed insider and analyst signals: Two executives recently sold shares, including EVP Sean N. Markowitz and CFO Zach Davis, while analysts remain generally bullish. Cheniere has a consensus Buy rating and a $293.50 average price target, despite one recent downgrade from Weiss Ratings.
• Recent results and capital returns were notable: The company reported earnings of ($16.65) per share, missing expectations, though revenue topped estimates at $5.87 billion and rose 7.8% year over year. Cheniere also authorized a $10 billion share buyback and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.555 per share.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 407,396 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,744 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned approximately 0.19% of Cheniere Energy worth $79,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 688 shares of the energy company's stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,488 shares of the energy company's stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 875 shares of the energy company's stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the energy company's stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,111 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sean N. Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 64,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,622,720. This represents a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $8,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 87,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,143,800. This trade represents a 24.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LNG shares. Zacks Research upgraded Cheniere Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group set a $290.00 price objective on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Benchmark restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Cheniere Energy from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $293.50.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

LNG opened at $224.42 on Friday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.20 and a fifty-two week high of $300.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $261.11 and a 200 day moving average of $229.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $47.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.91 and a beta of 0.07.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($20.90). The company had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 38.95% and a net margin of 7.23%.The business's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 15.2 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to reacquire up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Cheniere Energy's payout ratio is 36.51%.

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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