Korea Investment CORP Reduces Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 201,408 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 4,648 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $47,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $957,425,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 704.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 952,092 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $231,853,000 after buying an additional 833,723 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the third quarter worth $142,688,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the second quarter worth $107,319,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 32.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,729,359 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $421,134,000 after buying an additional 425,106 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNG has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $236.00 target price on Cheniere Energy and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $254.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.89.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

LNG opened at $254.77 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $213.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.86. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.20 and a 1 year high of $259.24. The stock has a market cap of $53.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $10.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $6.78. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 26.68% and a return on equity of 32.04%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.14%.

Cheniere Energy declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to reacquire up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.