Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Sells 16,271 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 41.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,538 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 16,271 shares during the period. Cheniere Energy makes up 3.0% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $5,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the second quarter worth about $276,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Cheniere Energy by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,954 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,216,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 23.8% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,945 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 6.9% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 19,487 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 40.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 43,345 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 12,554 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LNG. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $204.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.25.

Cheniere Energy Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $223.71 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $199.04. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $152.31 and a 12-month high of $257.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $50.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.99.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $3.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $2.06. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 41.44%. Cheniere Energy’s revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.37 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 12.67 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is presently 12.77%.

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.