Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Purchases 3,682 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,484 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,682 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $15,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,687,388 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,141,473,000 after buying an additional 26,843 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cheniere Energy during the second quarter worth about $957,425,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,874,796 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $940,578,000 after purchasing an additional 70,475 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,395,267 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $554,265,000 after purchasing an additional 488,994 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LNG shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $268.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $290.00 price objective on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Cheniere Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Cheniere Energy from $274.00 to $271.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $254.00 price target on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director W Benjamin Moreland acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $208.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,041,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,052,216.32. This trade represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of LNG opened at $189.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.94. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.20 and a 52-week high of $257.65. The firm has a market cap of $40.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $208.94 and its 200-day moving average is $226.24.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $2.00. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 21.12%.The business had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.93 earnings per share. Cheniere Energy’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.555 dividend. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This is an increase from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 12.37%.

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.