DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 74,456 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lowered its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 38.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,496 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 74,456 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.05% of Cheniere Energy worth $18,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LNG. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,235 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,715,000 after acquiring an additional 6,235 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $852,000. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,283,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 198,555 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $33,895,000 after purchasing an additional 44,508 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 6.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 187,236 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,198,000 after buying an additional 11,800 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LNG shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $162.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Cheniere Energy from $223.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.09.

Cheniere Energy Stock Down 1.8 %

LNG traded down $3.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $176.55. 1,926,616 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,543,313. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.65. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $152.31 and a one year high of $184.62. The company has a market cap of $40.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.96.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The energy company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 41.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 8.29 EPS for the current year.

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

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.435 dividend. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is presently 8.48%.

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.