Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) Short Interest Update

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) saw a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,630,000 shares, an increase of 31.9% from the July 31st total of 3,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.40.

Cheniere Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $185.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 0.96. Cheniere Energy has a 52-week low of $152.31 and a 52-week high of $187.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.33.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $2.13. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 27.05% and a return on equity of 39.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Cheniere Energy announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to repurchase up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.435 dividend. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is currently 8.48%.

Institutional Trading of Cheniere Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the second quarter worth $27,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 5,000.0% in the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 153 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy in the first quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.