Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 8,983 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,980 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 8,983 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $14,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LNG. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 401,587 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $64,768,000 after acquiring an additional 29,665 shares during the last quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 30,138 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,971 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $772,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 53,295 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,595,000 after acquiring an additional 4,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 48,071 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,753,000 after acquiring an additional 13,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $223.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $204.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.09.

Cheniere Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

LNG stock traded up $1.52 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $179.20. 79,700 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,885,424. The company has a market capitalization of $41.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $167.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.31 and a 1 year high of $184.62.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The energy company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.97 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 48.19% and a net margin of 28.55%. Cheniere Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 41.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 8.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.435 per share. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.48%.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to purchase up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.