Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Golar LNG stock opened at $25.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.56. Golar LNG has a 52-week low of $19.62 and a 52-week high of $25.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.11 and a beta of 0.61.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The shipping company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.40. Golar LNG had a positive return on equity of 11.67% and a negative net margin of 15.68%. The firm had revenue of $78.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.85 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Golar LNG will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is currently -232.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GLNG. Hosking Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 20.1% in the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 766,339 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $18,591,000 after buying an additional 128,416 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 0.8% in the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 6,506,757 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $157,854,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 59.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 888,096 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $21,545,000 after acquiring an additional 330,059 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 18.9% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 51,107 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 8,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 79.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 396,674 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,623,000 after acquiring an additional 175,348 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Golar LNG

Golar LNG Limited designs, owns, and operates marine infrastructure for the liquefaction of natural gas. The company operates through three segments: FLNG, Corporate and Other, and Shipping. It also engages in the regasification, storage, and offloading of liquefied natural gas (LNG); operation of floating liquefaction natural gas (FLNG) vessels; operation of the transportation of LNG carriers; and vessel management.