Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Position Trimmed by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,067 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 9,280 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 0.06% of Cheniere Energy worth $31,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,681,846 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,220,858,000 after purchasing an additional 243,418 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,126,512 shares of the energy company's stock worth $886,664,000 after acquiring an additional 379,142 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,237,303 shares of the energy company's stock worth $695,599,000 after acquiring an additional 450,031 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $629,197,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,696,002 shares of the energy company's stock worth $606,907,000 after purchasing an additional 448,189 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on LNG. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $255.00 to $247.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank cut 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 research note on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $277.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $252.23.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LNG traded up $2.95 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $237.99. 1,482,102 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,898,132. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $231.58 and a 200 day moving average of $225.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.82 and a 1-year high of $257.65.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.81 by ($1.24). Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 20.71%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.63%.

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director Neal A. Shear sold 4,300 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 29,733 shares in the company, valued at $7,312,236.69. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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.