Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Reduces Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. reduced its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,950 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 6,663 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $363,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,920 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,710,000 after buying an additional 2,436 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total transaction of $1,975,590.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,448,852.34. The trade was a 20.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of LNG stock opened at $228.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $152.31 and a fifty-two week high of $257.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $224.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.17.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 37.19%. On average, analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 14.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.75.

Cheniere Energy Company 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.