Golar LNG Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 9,369 call options on the company. This is an increase of 213% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,997 call options.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GLNG. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in Golar LNG by 197.1% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 2,716,761 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $62,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802,470 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,773,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new position in Golar LNG during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,102,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Golar LNG by 74.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,015,644 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,436,000 after buying an additional 433,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Golar LNG by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 888,096 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $21,545,000 after buying an additional 330,059 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Golar LNG Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of GLNG stock traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $34.28. 811,670 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,180,735. Golar LNG has a 1-year low of $19.94 and a 1-year high of $34.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.64 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.95.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. Golar LNG had a net margin of 38.11% and a return on equity of 10.15%. The business had revenue of $63.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.27 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Golar LNG will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Golar LNG’s payout ratio is 95.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GLNG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Golar LNG from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Golar LNG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Golar LNG from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Golar LNG currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.75.

Golar LNG Company Profile

Golar LNG Limited designs, converts, owns, and operates marine infrastructure for the liquefaction of natural gas. The company operates through three segments: FLNG, Corporate and Other, and Shipping. It engages in the regasification, storage, and offloading of liquefied natural gas (LNG); operation of floating liquefaction natural gas (FLNG) vessels or projects; transportation of LNG carriers; and vessel management activities.