Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 435 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,688 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $3,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 134.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 103 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LNG. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $268.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $290.00 price target on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $267.80.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNG opened at $212.13 on Friday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $182.28 and a fifty-two week high of $257.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.37.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. 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 37.83% and a net margin of 21.05%.The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.93 EPS. Cheniere Energy’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a $0.555 dividend. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is presently 12.37%.

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.