Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $249.63, but opened at $244.00. Cheniere Energy shares last traded at $238.75, with a volume of 422,722 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $232.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $204.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.64.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $52.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $221.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.97.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $2.06. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 41.44% and a net margin of 22.70%. Cheniere Energy’s revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheniere Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $210,000. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cheniere Energy in the second quarter valued at about $490,000. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in Cheniere Energy by 90.3% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,900 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 176.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 578 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 35.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 63,609 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $11,121,000 after buying an additional 16,499 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

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.