Focus Partners Wealth Has $14.51 Million Stock Position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth reduced its stock position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. by 3.2% in Q1, holding 62,685 shares valued at $14.51 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Massachusetts Financial Services, significantly increased their stakes in Cheniere Energy, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Cheniere Energy reported a substantial earnings surprise last quarter with $7.30 earnings per share versus the $2.35 estimate, alongside a revenue of $4.64 billion exceeding expectations.

Focus Partners Wealth lowered its position in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,685 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 2,099 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $14,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LNG. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Cheniere Energy in the first quarter valued at about $294,793,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 84.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,651,500 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $354,858,000 after purchasing an additional 756,900 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 12.9% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,660,545 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,078,450,000 after purchasing an additional 534,033 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 33.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,031,767 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $470,151,000 after purchasing an additional 504,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 25.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,395,267 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $554,265,000 after purchasing an additional 488,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $258.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $288.00 price target on Cheniere Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $262.00 target price (up previously from $253.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $263.29.

Cheniere Energy Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE LNG opened at $235.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company has a market cap of $51.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 0.43. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.55 and a 12 month high of $257.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $235.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $231.25.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy company reported $7.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $4.95. The company had revenue of $4.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.48 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 21.05%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Cheniere Energy's payout ratio is 11.68%.

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.

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