Verus Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Verus Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,144 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,438,428 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $978,047,000 after buying an additional 167,575 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 195.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,200,456 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $755,410,000 after buying an additional 2,776,920 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 91.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,747,370 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $673,927,000 after buying an additional 1,789,919 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,793,989 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $322,631,000 after buying an additional 178,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,664,439 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $357,638,000 after purchasing an additional 631,787 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LNG shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheniere Energy news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total value of $1,975,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,934 shares in the company, valued at $7,448,852.34. This represents a 20.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 3.9 %

LNG stock opened at $228.51 on Friday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.31 and a 1-year high of $257.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $51.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.17.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $1.59. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is 14.05%.

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.