Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 900,235 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 109,061 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $211,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 473.7% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 109 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on LNG shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $251.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $254.00 target price on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $278.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Cheniere Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director W Benjamin Moreland purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $208.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,041,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,052,216.32. This represents a 102.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE LNG opened at $211.57 on Friday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.20 and a 12-month high of $246.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $4.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $2.00. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 21.12%.The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.93 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.37%.

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.