Clearbridge Investments LLC Invests $40.80 Million in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 189,880 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,800,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 89.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,945 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,808 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 27.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,805 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 56.6% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,828 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 159,519 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,949 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LNG. Barclays lifted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Argus assumed coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.79.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

NYSE LNG opened at $230.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.94. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.88 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $222.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.68.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $1.59. The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 20.71%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheniere Energy

In other news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 at this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cheniere Energy Company 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.