Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

GLNG has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Golar LNG in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $56.00 target price on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on Golar LNG from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Golar LNG has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Golar LNG Price Performance

NASDAQ GLNG opened at $54.08 on Friday. Golar LNG has a one year low of $29.56 and a one year high of $55.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.07 and a 200 day moving average of $40.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. The company has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.50 and a beta of 0.18.

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

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is 156.25%.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its position in Golar LNG by 2.3% in the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 9,178,978 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $378,082,000 after acquiring an additional 203,829 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP grew its position in shares of Golar LNG by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 3,932,104 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $146,314,000 after acquiring an additional 637,081 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Golar LNG by 253.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,306,379 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $85,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654,353 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,110,671 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $78,538,000 after purchasing an additional 259,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cartenna Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cartenna Capital LP now owns 1,925,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $77,789,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Golar LNG Company Profile

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.