OP Asset Management Ltd Purchases New Shares in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Key Points

• OP Asset Management opened a new position in Cheniere Energy in Q1, buying 22,259 shares worth about $6.3 million.
• Analysts remain generally positive on LNG, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $297.71, though one firm recently downgraded the stock to Hold.
• Cheniere reported a major earnings miss in its latest quarter, posting ($16.65) EPS versus expectations for $4.25, even as revenue came in above estimates and the company continued its $10 billion share repurchase program.

OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 22,259 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $6,316,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LNG. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LNG shares. UBS Group set a $290.00 target price on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Cheniere Energy from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Cheniere Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $8,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 87,146 shares in the company, valued at $26,143,800. This trade represents a 24.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

LNG stock opened at $235.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $243.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.93. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.20 and a 52-week high of $300.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.36 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.74.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($20.90). Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 38.95% and a net margin of 7.23%.The company had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 14.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.51%.

Cheniere Energy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to purchase up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Cheniere Energy

Cheniere Energy, Inc is a U.S.-based energy company that develops, owns and operates liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and markets LNG to global customers. The company's core activities include natural gas liquefaction, long‑term and short‑term LNG sales and marketing, and the associated midstream services required to move gas from production basins to international markets. Cheniere focuses on converting domestic natural gas into LNG for export, providing a bridge between North American supply and overseas demand.

Cheniere's principal operating assets are large-scale LNG export terminals located on the U.S.

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