Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Short Interest Update

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,470,000 shares, a drop of 5.4% from the May 15th total of 3,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Golar LNG from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com cut Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on Golar LNG from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.33.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GLNG opened at $28.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Golar LNG has a 1 year low of $19.62 and a 1 year high of $29.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.76. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10 and a beta of 0.61.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Golar LNG

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Golar LNG by 84.3% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 101,438 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 46,393 shares during the last quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,498,000. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 0.8% during the 3rd 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 59.1% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 709.8% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 157,448 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,620,000 after acquiring an additional 138,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

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.