Argus Begins Coverage on Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG)

Stock analysts at Argus assumed coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price target on the energy company’s stock. Argus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.19% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on LNG. Barclays increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.79.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LNG opened at $227.29 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 0.94. Cheniere Energy has a one year low of $152.88 and a one year high of $257.65.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last announced its quarterly 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. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 20.71%. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Cheniere Energy will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 33,934 shares in the company, valued at $7,448,852.34. This trade represents a 20.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheniere Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,681,846 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,220,858,000 after acquiring an additional 243,418 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 3.2% in the third 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 increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 195.1% in the third 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 increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,126,512 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $886,664,000 after buying an additional 379,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,237,303 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $695,599,000 after buying an additional 450,031 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.