Quant ratings highlight LNG stocks as Qatar shutdown sparks global gas price surge

For the first time since 2008, Qatar has gone five consecutive days without a single LNG export shipment. Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG complex, the world’s largest, has shut down following recent Iranian strikes.

In this scenario, Cheniere Energy (LNG) which has “become a must-have energy stock” for investors who wish to hedge the current geopolitical turmoil, particularly since the start of 2026, and other U.S. LNG exporters, are increasingly in focus.

Of note, second-ranked U.S. producer Venture Global (VG) has the most flexibility to help in the short term because it is selling as much as 4B cf/day of commissioning volumes from its Plaquemines plant in Louisiana on the spot market, which allows the company more room to redirect cargoes, CEO Mike Sabel said this week on an earnings conference call.

Looking at Seeking Alpha’s quant ratings for U.S. LNG-focused companies, most carry a Hold rating, while Golar LNG (GLNG) is rated Sell and New Fortress Energy (NFE) is rated Strong Sell.

Here are the LNG-focused companies ranked by Quant rating (highest to lowest):

Flex Ltd. (FLEX) – Quant rating 3.37 (Hold), YTD perf 0.81%
Energy Transfer (ET) – Quant rating 3.32 (Hold), YTD perf 10.98%
Kinder Morgan (KMI) – Quant rating 3.24 (Hold), YTD perf 19.90%
The Williams Companies (WMB) – Quant rating 3.21 (Hold), YTD perf 22.84%
Excelerate Energy (EE) – Quant rating 3.18 (Hold), YTD perf 28.24%
Venture Global (VG) – Quant rating 3.17 (Hold), YTD perf 67.16%
Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) – Quant rating 3.14 (Hold), YTD perf 17.71%
Sempra (SRE) – Quant rating 3.09 (Hold), YTD perf 5.30%
Flex LNG (FLNG) – Quant rating 3.08 (Hold), YTD perf 19.96%
Cheniere Energy (LNG) – Quant rating 3.07 (Hold), YTD perf 26.43%
NextDecade (NEXT) – Quant rating 2.91 (Hold), YTD perf 5.50%
Golar LNG (GLNG) – Quant rating 2.45 (Sell), YTD perf 21.06%
New Fortress Energy (NFE) – Quant rating 1.11 (Strong Sell), YTD perf -7.02%

Dutch front-month futures, Europe’s gas benchmark, rose 6.1% to trade above €50 a megawatt in Amsterdam. They almost reached €70 earlier this week.

Several companies that buy liquefied natural ‌gas from QatarEnergy as portfolio players or offtakers, including Shell (SHEL) and TotalEnergies (TTE), have declared force majeure to customers they supply, Reuters reported Wednesday.

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