Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Stock Position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 109.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,340 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,791 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $19,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.9% in the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 7.3% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 688 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 6.1% during the third quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 875 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 2,489 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 468 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $271.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Cheniere Energy from $286.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $283.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.71.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $243.38 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $242.72 and a 200 day moving average of $234.22. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.20 and a 12 month high of $300.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported ($16.65) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($20.90). The firm had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 38.95%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 14.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a 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 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.