Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,616 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,867 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,616 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $19,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,754 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 117,264 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $20,018,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 111,665 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $18,912,000 after buying an additional 3,648 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,836 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $288,000. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LNG. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.00.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of LNG opened at $177.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.31 and a 1 year high of $187.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.60. The firm has a market cap of $40.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.95.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $2.13. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 27.05% and a return on equity of 39.42%. The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.435 dividend. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.48%.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, June 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to repurchase up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cheniere Energy 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.