Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 186,283 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,722 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $52,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $731,774,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 555.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 810,138 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $157,483,000 after buying an additional 686,459 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 577,533 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $112,267,000 after acquiring an additional 484,198 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,219,557 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,124,870,000 after purchasing an additional 414,022 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3,902.4% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 389,676 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $75,749,000 after purchasing an additional 379,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cheniere Energy

In related news, CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $8,700,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 87,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,143,800. This represents a 24.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LNG shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Benchmark restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $313.00 to $308.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $286.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.71.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 2.0%

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

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

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 21.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given 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 presently 36.51%.

Cheniere Energy Company Profile

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.