Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 240,427 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 13.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,980,767 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 240,427 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $346,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,529,191 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,845,958,000 after purchasing an additional 151,311 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,242,899 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $566,956,000 after purchasing an additional 273,588 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,960,944 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $316,261,000 after purchasing an additional 192,934 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 1,490.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,957,451 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $342,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $308,910,000. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNG opened at $182.72 on Tuesday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $180.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.15. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $152.31 and a 52-week high of $187.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 0.95.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 39.42% and a net margin of 27.05%. The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.61 EPS. Cheniere Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, June 17th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to buy up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LNG. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Cheniere Energy in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.25.

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.