Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Receives $50.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.50.

A number of brokerages recently commented on GLNG. Zacks Research raised Golar LNG from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Golar LNG in a research report on Monday, September 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Golar LNG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $44.50 price target on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Monday, August 25th.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP increased 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 buying an additional 203,829 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Golar LNG by 73.8% in the first quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,276,083 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $86,468,000 after buying an additional 966,692 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Golar LNG by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,914,741 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $78,868,000 after buying an additional 26,838 shares during the last quarter. Appian Way Asset Management LP increased its position in Golar LNG by 6.2% in the first quarter. Appian Way Asset Management LP now owns 1,524,621 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $57,920,000 after buying an additional 89,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Golar LNG by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,345,804 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $55,434,000 after buying an additional 26,722 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Golar LNG Stock Up 1.4%

GLNG stock opened at $41.05 on Friday. Golar LNG has a twelve month low of $29.56 and a twelve month high of $45.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.64 and its 200-day moving average is $40.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of -586.34 and a beta of 0.22.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The shipping company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.03). Golar LNG had a negative net margin of 2.83% and a positive return on equity of 6.36%. The company had revenue of $75.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.37 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Golar LNG will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 26th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,428.57%.

About Golar LNG

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