Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Short Interest Down 22.9% in August

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,570,000 shares, a decrease of 22.9% from the August 15th total of 4,630,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keene & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 1,798 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Signature Wealth Management Group grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 4,758 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 186 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 1,420 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Syon Capital LLC grew its position in Cheniere Energy by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:LNG opened at $179.05 on Monday. Cheniere Energy has a 52 week low of $152.31 and a 52 week high of $187.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $180.24 and a 200 day moving average of $166.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.95.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $2.13. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 27.05% and a return on equity of 39.42%. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.61 earnings per share. Cheniere Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Barclays increased 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. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.25.

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.