StockNews.com Lowers Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GLNG. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Golar LNG from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BTIG Research increased their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Golar LNG from $35.50 to $44.50 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $42.30.

Golar LNG Trading Down 0.3 %

GLNG stock opened at $35.24 on Wednesday. Golar LNG has a 52-week low of $19.94 and a 52-week high of $36.52. 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 market cap of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.56 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.77.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 38.11%. The company had revenue of $63.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.27 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Golar LNG will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.24%.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $62,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,470 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Golar LNG in the 4th quarter valued at $23,773,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new stake in Golar LNG in the 4th quarter valued at $12,102,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 74.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,015,644 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,436,000 after acquiring an additional 433,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 709.8% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 157,448 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,620,000 after acquiring an additional 138,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

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.