Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 229 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 75.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 533 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 195.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,200,456 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $755,410,000 after buying an additional 2,776,920 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,834,347 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 328.2% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 894,600 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $160,885,000 after acquiring an additional 685,662 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 74.6% in the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 1,514,155 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $264,720,000 after acquiring an additional 647,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,270,853 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $921,503,000 after purchasing an additional 413,744 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $232.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $199.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.00.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

LNG stock opened at $222.48 on Friday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.31 and a 1-year high of $228.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $211.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.69. The company has a market capitalization of $49.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $3.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $2.06. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 41.44%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.77%.

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.