Key Points
- CFO Zach Davis sold 29,000 shares at an average of $300 (about $8.7 million) on March 30, reducing his stake by ~25% to 87,146 shares — a sizable insider sale that could create short‑term selling pressure.
- Strong results and capital return: Cheniere reported a large earnings beat (Q EPS $10.68 vs. $3.90 expected) with revenue up ~22.9% YoY, and the board authorized a $10 billion buyback (up to 21.1% of shares) while maintaining a quarterly dividend.
- Wall Street sentiment is largely positive with multiple price‑target upgrades and mostly Buy ratings, but near‑term risks include a Sabine Pass outage that trimmed output and the recent insider sales that some investors may view negatively.
Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) EVP Sean Markowitz sold 22,246 shares of Cheniere Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.98, for a total transaction of $6,473,141.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 64,000 shares in the company, valued at $18,622,720. This trade represents a 25.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.
Cheniere Energy Stock Performance
NYSE:LNG opened at $281.55 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average is $241.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.60. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.20 and a 1-year high of $300.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 0.14.
Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $10.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.90 by $6.78. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.48 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 26.68% and a return on equity of 32.04%. The business's revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.
Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.14%.
Cheniere Energy announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to buy up to 21.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Analyst Ratings Changes
LNG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Cheniere Energy from $296.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wolfe Research set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $279.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $280.00 to $271.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.24.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Cheniere Energy
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $335,000. VestGen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cheniere Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $236,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,859 shares of the energy company's stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 149.1% during the second quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 11,558 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,815,000 after purchasing an additional 6,919 shares during the period. Finally, CW Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 41.9% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the energy company's stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Trending Headlines about Cheniere Energy
Here are the key news stories impacting Cheniere Energy this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Citi upgraded Cheniere and raised its price target to $330 (from $280), keeping a Buy rating — a notable Wall Street vote of confidence that supports further upside. Wall Street Upgrades Cheniere Energy
- Positive Sentiment: Cheniere reported very strong recent operating and financial results (record production, strong distributable cash flow and an earnings beat), which underpin investor confidence and capacity to expand. Q4/Full-Year Results
- Positive Sentiment: Cheniere reached substantial completion on Train 5 of the Corpus Christi Stage 3 project — a capacity/expansion milestone that supports longer‑term export growth. Train 5 Completion
- Positive Sentiment: U.S. LNG exports recently hit record highs as Middle East supply disruptions boost global demand for U.S. cargoes — a structural tailwind for Cheniere as the largest U.S. exporter. US LNG Exports Record
- Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts warn that persistently high LNG prices could eventually erode demand or complicate contracting/expansion dynamics — a longer‑term risk to monitor. High Price Risk
- Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary notes that much of Cheniere’s long‑term benefit from current disruptions may already be priced into the stock, suggesting limited incremental upside absent further tailwinds. Pricing-in Commentary
- Negative Sentiment: Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant is running reduced flows after an outage on one production unit — a near‑term operational hit that could temper near‑term volumes and revenue. Sabine Pass Outage
- Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales were disclosed recently (EVP Sean Markowitz and CFO Zach Davis sold sizable blocks), which can create short‑term selling pressure or raise governance/ownership questions for some investors. EVP Form 4 CFO Form 4
About Cheniere Energy
(
Get Free Report)
Cheniere Energy, Inc is a U.S.-based energy company that develops, owns and operates liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and markets LNG to global customers. The company's core activities include natural gas liquefaction, long‑term and short‑term LNG sales and marketing, and the associated midstream services required to move gas from production basins to international markets. Cheniere focuses on converting domestic natural gas into LNG for export, providing a bridge between North American supply and overseas demand.
Cheniere's principal operating assets are large-scale LNG export terminals located on the U.S.
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