Aventail Capital Group LP Sells 222,115 Shares of Golar LNG Limited $GLNG

Aventail Capital Group LP reduced its holdings in shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 74.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 78,041 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 222,115 shares during the quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings in Golar LNG were worth $3,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Golar LNG by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 570,471 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $23,053,000 after acquiring an additional 115,546 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Golar LNG during the third quarter worth $273,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG in the third quarter worth $2,535,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG in the third quarter worth $855,000. Finally, Appian Way Asset Management LP grew its position in shares of Golar LNG by 34.8% in the third quarter. Appian Way Asset Management LP now owns 1,633,582 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $66,013,000 after purchasing an additional 421,375 shares in the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Shares of GLNG opened at $42.94 on Friday. Golar LNG Limited has a 12-month low of $29.56 and a 12-month high of $47.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 67.09 and a beta of 0.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.23.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $132.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.29 million. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 16.69%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Golar LNG’s payout ratio is currently 156.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GLNG. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Golar LNG from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Golar LNG from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Golar LNG currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.50.

About Golar LNG

Golar LNG Ltd. is a leading owner and operator of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and floating infrastructure. The company specializes in the transportation of LNG on long-term and spot charters for major energy firms around the world. In addition to shipping, Golar LNG has broadened its services to include project development and the conversion of existing carriers into Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) and Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) vessels.

Since pioneering the first purpose-built FLNG conversion project, Golar LNG has been at the forefront of offshore gas monetization.