American Century Companies Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,022,203 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 111,934 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.46% of Cheniere Energy worth $219,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 170.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 119 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 373.1% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Adirondack Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Cheniere Energy Trading Down 1.3 %

LNG stock opened at $227.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.07. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $152.88 and a one year high of $257.65. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $225.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.94. The company has a market capitalization of $50.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The energy company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $1.59. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 37.19%. The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is 14.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on LNG. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director G Andrea Botta sold 9,000 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.51, for a total value of $1,975,590.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,448,852.34. The trade was a 20.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.