Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Purchases 176 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 78.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 400 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $70,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cheniere Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,529,191 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,845,958,000 after purchasing an additional 151,311 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 10.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,960,944 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $316,261,000 after purchasing an additional 192,934 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $308,910,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 12.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,601,172 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $255,372,000 after purchasing an additional 181,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 30.4% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 1,593,308 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $256,969,000 after purchasing an additional 371,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNG traded up $1.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $184.34. The company had a trading volume of 418,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,823,708. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.03. The stock has a market cap of $42.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.96. 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 twelve month low of $152.31 and a twelve month high of $187.44.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $2.13. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 28.55% and a return on equity of 48.19%. The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 8.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, June 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.435 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.40.

Cheniere Energy 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.