First Horizon Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,782 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LNG. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 9.6% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 132,933 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $23,881,000 after purchasing an additional 11,642 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $477,000. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 12.1% during the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 6,031 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 12.8% during the third quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $419,000. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $219.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $223.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.26. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.31 and a 1 year high of $257.65. The stock has a market cap of $49.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 0.98.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $1.59. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 37.19%. The company had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is 14.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LNG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.75.

About Cheniere Energy

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.