Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,236 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 3,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.05% of Cheniere Energy worth $27,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,505 shares of the energy company's stock worth $5,439,000 after buying an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 615.4% during the 4th 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. raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.8% during the 4th 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 raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 27.0% during the 4th 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. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 6.7% during the 1st 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. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Neal A. Shear sold 4,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.93, for a total transaction of $1,057,499.00. Following the sale, the director owned 29,733 shares in the company, valued at $7,312,236.69. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Cheniere Energy stock traded down $3.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $231.71. 1,539,714 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,843,657. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $235.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.69. The company has a market capitalization of $51.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95 and a beta of 0.42. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.66 and a 12-month high of $257.65.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.81 by ($1.24). Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 18.37%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. Cheniere Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $252.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $262.00 price objective (up from $253.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $288.00 price objective on Cheniere Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Cheniere Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $260.36.

About Cheniere Energy

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.