Community Trust & Investment Co. Sells 15,783 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Community Trust & Investment Co. lessened its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 121,550 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 15,783 shares during the quarter. Cheniere Energy comprises 1.8% of Community Trust & Investment Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Community Trust & Investment Co. owned approximately 0.05% of Cheniere Energy worth $28,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Martin Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 615.4% in the fourth quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 28,223 shares of the energy company's stock worth $6,064,000 after buying an additional 24,278 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 37,378 shares of the energy company's stock worth $8,032,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 293,201 shares of the energy company's stock worth $63,000,000 after buying an additional 62,338 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 6.7% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 51,781 shares of the energy company's stock worth $11,982,000 after buying an additional 3,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,696,002 shares of the energy company's stock worth $606,907,000 after buying an additional 448,189 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LNG. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $243.00 to $242.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $255.00 to $247.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus began coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $255.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $252.23.

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In related news, Director Neal A. Shear sold 4,300 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNG traded up $2.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $235.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,523,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,898,031. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $232.17 and a 200-day moving average of $225.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $52.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.43. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $157.25 and a 12-month 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 company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 18.37% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The business's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Cheniere Energy's payout ratio is 14.63%.

Cheniere Energy 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.