Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG)

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 6,975 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 40% compared to the average volume of 4,989 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LNG. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $335,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 89,701 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $21,844,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 33.8% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,741 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,833,000 after buying an additional 3,976 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 15.4% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,243 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 380.5% in the second quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,414 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,049,000 after acquiring an additional 6,663 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Stock Up 11.3%

Shares of LNG traded up $30.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $296.42. 4,152,672 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,316,656. 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 company has a market cap of $62.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $222.52 and its 200-day moving average is $217.71. Cheniere Energy has a 52 week low of $186.20 and a 52 week high of $296.73.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $10.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.90 by $6.78. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 32.04% and a net margin of 26.68%.The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.14%.

Cheniere Energy declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to repurchase up to 21.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LNG. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $236.00 target price on Cheniere Energy and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wolfe Research set a $220.00 price target on Cheniere Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Cheniere Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.94.

Cheniere Energy Company Profile

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.