Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Hits New 1-Year High at $187.63

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $187.63 and last traded at $187.55, with a volume of 428384 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $184.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.25.

Cheniere Energy Stock Up 1.4 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The company has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.95.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.12. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 39.42% and a net margin of 27.05%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.775 per share. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 8.48%.

Cheniere Energy declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, June 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,529,191 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,845,958,000 after purchasing an additional 151,311 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,270,853 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $921,503,000 after purchasing an additional 413,744 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,242,899 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $566,956,000 after purchasing an additional 273,588 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,921,837 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $510,825,000 after purchasing an additional 202,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,060,622 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $360,259,000 after purchasing an additional 99,678 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

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.