Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Short Interest Update

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 636,600 shares, a decrease of 8.8% from the August 31st total of 698,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 139,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LNG shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 1,490.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,957,451 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $342,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,347 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 231.8% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,338,752 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $215,914,000 after purchasing an additional 935,239 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 74.6% in the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 1,514,155 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $264,720,000 after buying an additional 647,096 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 61.4% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,222,723 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $197,201,000 after purchasing an additional 465,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 1st quarter worth $70,682,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:LNG traded up $1.47 on Tuesday, hitting $181.31. 1,279,701 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,795,227. The stock has a market cap of $41.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. Cheniere Energy has a fifty-two week low of $152.31 and a fifty-two week high of $187.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $180.72 and a 200-day moving average of $168.91.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 39.42% and a net margin of 27.05%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cheniere Energy will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.775 dividend. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. This is a boost from Cheniere Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.48%.

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

About Cheniere Energy

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.