Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Shares Sold by Maple Brown Abbott Ltd

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd trimmed its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,920 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 18,690 shares during the period. Cheniere Energy comprises approximately 4.9% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd owned about 0.12% of Cheniere Energy worth $47,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LNG. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Cheniere Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $391,652,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $261,515,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 13.6% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,934,156 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $961,421,000 after purchasing an additional 830,898 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Cheniere Energy by 73.0% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,496,100 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $248,293,000 after purchasing an additional 631,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,542,925 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $531,297,000 after buying an additional 576,067 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on LNG. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Cheniere Energy from $185.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $162.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.30.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock traded up $2.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $157.20. 1,041,529 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,885,182. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.30 and a 12 month high of $183.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $158.34. The stock has a market cap of $36.89 billion, a PE ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.94.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The energy company reported $5.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $3.06. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.37 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 48.45% and a return on equity of 69.52%. Cheniere Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 46.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $15.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.435 per share. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 5th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 4.30%.

Cheniere Energy Profile

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.