Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Golar LNG Limited $GLNG

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 81.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,148 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 17,675 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Golar LNG were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $85,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654,353 shares in the last quarter. Verbena Value LP bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,497,000. Clearline Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 172.6% in the 4th quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,067,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $39,709,000 after purchasing an additional 675,744 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP boosted its position 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 valued at $146,314,000 after purchasing an additional 637,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Golar LNG during the second quarter valued at approximately $24,714,000. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Golar LNG in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $66.00 target price on shares of Golar LNG and gave the stock a “conviction-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.70.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Golar LNG stock opened at $49.15 on Friday. Golar LNG Limited has a twelve month low of $35.02 and a twelve month high of $57.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.62 and a beta of 0.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.17 and its 200 day moving average is $49.03.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Golar LNG Limited will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 Company 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.