Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.70.

GLNG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Golar LNG from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Pareto Securities lowered Golar LNG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Golar LNG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd.

Golar LNG Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GLNG opened at $51.17 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08 and a beta of 0.02. Golar LNG has a 12-month low of $35.02 and a 12-month high of $57.79.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The shipping company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $137.55 million during the quarter. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 30.10%. Sell-side analysts expect that Golar LNG will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Golar LNG

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

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.