Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 45.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,644 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LNG. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC purchased a new position in Cheniere Energy in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cheniere Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 87.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Cheniere Energy from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $232.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $201.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.64.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $249.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $56.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 0.99. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $220.52 and its 200 day moving average is $196.18. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $152.31 and a one year high of $257.65.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $3.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $2.06. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 41.44% and a net margin of 22.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheniere Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Cheniere Energy’s payout ratio is 12.77%.

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.