The Goldman Sachs Group Upgrades Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) to Strong-Buy

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Golar LNG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.50 target price on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Golar LNG from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

NASDAQ GLNG opened at $40.41 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -577.20 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.14. 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.

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

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 26th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,428.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLNG. 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. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 966,692 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 26,838 shares during the period. Appian Way Asset Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Appian Way Asset Management LP now owns 1,524,621 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $57,920,000 after buying an additional 89,199 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Golar LNG by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,345,804 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $55,434,000 after buying an additional 26,722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Golar LNG Company Profile

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.