Abbot Financial Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)

Abbot Financial Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,937 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Abbot Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $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 shares of Cheniere Energy by 9.2% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,242,899 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $566,956,000 after acquiring an additional 273,588 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Cheniere Energy by 13.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,980,767 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $346,268,000 after acquiring an additional 240,427 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 10.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,960,944 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $316,261,000 after acquiring an additional 192,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position 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 valued at $342,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,347 shares during the period. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

LNG stock opened at $182.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.15. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $152.31 and a 12-month high of $187.44. The stock 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The energy company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $2.13. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 39.42% and a net margin of 27.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LNG shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $194.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.25.

Cheniere Energy 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.