New England Research & Management Inc. Invests $411,000 in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,350 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,878 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,112 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 92,992 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $15,903,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,400,000. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,911 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LNG. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $223.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Cheniere Energy from $204.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cheniere Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.09.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

NYSE LNG traded up $4.30 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $176.54. 1,395,524 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,890,226. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.31 and a 1-year high of $184.62. The company has a market cap of $40.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $169.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The energy company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.17). Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 28.55% and a return on equity of 48.19%. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.89 EPS. Cheniere Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 41.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 8.29 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.435 per share. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.48%.

Cheniere Energy announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, June 17th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to purchase up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.