Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 1,250 Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,250 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LNG. BIP Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 3,545 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. NDVR Inc. boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. NDVR Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the energy company's stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,346 shares of the energy company's stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Money Management LLC increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 10,987 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,361,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LNG. Bank of America raised their target price on Cheniere Energy from $254.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $243.00 to $242.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $252.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheniere Energy news, Director Neal A. Shear sold 4,300 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now owns 29,733 shares of the company's stock, 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 this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 1.0%

Cheniere Energy stock traded up $2.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $235.87. 1,523,637 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,898,030. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $232.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.42. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $157.25 and a fifty-two week high of $257.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.43.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Cheniere Energy's payout ratio is 14.63%.

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.