Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Reaches New 12-Month High at $31.81

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $31.81 and last traded at $31.60, with a volume of 164818 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GLNG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Golar LNG from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Golar LNG from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Golar LNG presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.75.

Golar LNG Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99 and a beta of 0.64.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 38.11%. The business had revenue of $63.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.27 million. On average, analysts predict that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.24%.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GLNG. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the 3rd quarter valued at about $816,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 330,059 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the 4th quarter valued at about $588,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,800 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 78,574 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after buying an additional 2,708 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.