Golar LNG Limited $GLNG Shares Sold by ARS Investment Partners LLC

ARS Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 302,969 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 14,052 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Golar LNG were worth $16,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GLNG. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,654,353 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Golar LNG in the third quarter valued at $56,574,000. Verbena Value LP acquired a new position in Golar LNG in the fourth quarter valued at $38,497,000. Clearline Capital LP boosted its stake in Golar LNG by 172.6% in the fourth quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,067,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $39,709,000 after acquiring an additional 675,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PointState Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 3,932,104 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $146,314,000 after purchasing an additional 637,081 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Golar LNG from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Golar LNG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Pareto Securities cut Golar LNG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Golar LNG presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.70.

Golar LNG Price Performance

Golar LNG stock opened at $49.60 on Friday. Golar LNG Limited has a twelve month low of $35.02 and a twelve month high of $57.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.48. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.94 and a beta of 0.02.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The shipping company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 30.10%.The business had revenue of $137.55 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Golar LNG Limited will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

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

Golar LNG 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.