Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Purchases New Stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Key Points

• Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. has acquired a new stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. valued at approximately $333,000, purchasing 1,440 shares.
• Cheniere Energy reported $7.30 earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.35, and noted a year-over-year revenue increase of 42.8%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.00 and a dividend yield of 0.8%.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,440 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,937,749 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,844,995,000 after acquiring an additional 54,801 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 12.9% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 534,033 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,492,443 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $808,151,000 after acquiring an additional 255,140 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,185,605 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $737,149,000 after acquiring an additional 359,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,703,299 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $595,245,000 after purchasing an additional 7,297 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Stock Up 0.6%

LNG traded up $1.46 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $235.87. 453,602 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,066,067. The stock has a market cap of $51.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.43. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.14 and a twelve month high of $257.65. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $235.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $258.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $288.00 price objective on Cheniere Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $267.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $263.29.

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.