Cheniere Energy, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 (NYSE:LNG)

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the energy company on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th.

Cheniere Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 105.9% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Cheniere Energy to earn $11.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.9%.

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

LNG stock opened at $228.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Cheniere Energy has a 1 year low of $152.31 and a 1 year high of $257.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $222.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.62.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $2.06. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 41.44% and a net margin of 22.70%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Cheniere Energy from $234.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $201.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Cheniere Energy from $202.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.36.

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.