Golar LNG Partners (NASDAQ:GMLP) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Golar LNG Partners (NASDAQ:GMLP) was downgraded by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. They presently have a $3.55 target price on the shipping company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $5.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 3.80% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on GMLP. Zacks Investment Research raised Golar LNG Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Golar LNG Partners from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Golar LNG Partners currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.86.

GMLP stock opened at $3.42 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $2.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $237.01 million, a PE ratio of 9.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.06. Golar LNG Partners has a 1-year low of $1.30 and a 1-year high of $8.75.

Golar LNG Partners (NASDAQ:GMLP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, November 29th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $69.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.48 million. Golar LNG Partners had a return on equity of 13.04% and a net margin of 9.97%. On average, analysts forecast that Golar LNG Partners will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Golar LNG Partners by 164.8% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 228,329 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 142,100 shares during the period. Baldwin Brothers Inc. MA boosted its stake in shares of Golar LNG Partners by 9.8% in the third quarter. Baldwin Brothers Inc. MA now owns 56,100 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Golar LNG Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Golar LNG Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Golar LNG Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.07% of the company’s stock.

Golar LNG Partners Company Profile

Golar LNG Partners LP owns and operates floating storage regasification units (FSRUs) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers under long-term charters in Brazil, Indonesia, Jordan, Jamaica, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. As of April 16, 2020, it had a fleet of six FSRUs and four LNG carriers.

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