Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $2.06 EPS

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The energy company reported $3.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $2.06, Briefing.com reports. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 39.42% and a net margin of 27.05%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. Cheniere Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

LNG traded down $3.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $187.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,041,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,696. The stock has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $183.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. Cheniere Energy has a 12 month low of $152.31 and a 12 month high of $193.16.

Cheniere Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Cheniere Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $201.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on Cheniere Energy from $199.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.00.

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.