Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.70.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GLNG. Pareto Securities downgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Golar LNG from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Golar LNG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th.

Golar LNG Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Golar LNG stock opened at $49.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.83 and a beta of 0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 2.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.06 and a 200 day moving average of $46.37. Golar LNG has a fifty-two week low of $35.02 and a fifty-two week high of $57.79.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The shipping company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $137.55 million during the quarter. Golar LNG had a net margin of 30.10% and a return on equity of 6.86%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Golar LNG will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 was Monday, June 1st. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Militia Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,623,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 18,550.0% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 9,275 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the 1st quarter valued at about $284,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 75.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 31,874 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 13,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

About Golar LNG

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.