Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $259.00 to $271.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Cheniere Energy traded as high as $252.50 and last traded at $250.4230, with a volume of 1110549 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.73.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on LNG. TD Cowen upped their target price on Cheniere Energy from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $274.00 to $271.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,219,557 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,124,870,000 after purchasing an additional 414,022 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,174,695 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,200,299,000 after buying an additional 167,622 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Cheniere Energy by 0.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,687,388 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,141,473,000 after buying an additional 26,843 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cheniere Energy in the second quarter valued at $957,425,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cheniere Energy by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,874,796 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $940,578,000 after acquiring an additional 70,475 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 0.25.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The energy company reported $10.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.90 by $6.78. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 32.04% and a net margin of 26.68%.The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.14%.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Cheniere Energy

Cheniere Energy, Inc is a U.S.-based energy company that develops, owns and operates liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and markets LNG to global customers. The company’s core activities include natural gas liquefaction, long‑term and short‑term LNG sales and marketing, and the associated midstream services required to move gas from production basins to international markets. Cheniere focuses on converting domestic natural gas into LNG for export, providing a bridge between North American supply and overseas demand.

Cheniere’s principal operating assets are large-scale LNG export terminals located on the U.S.