Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Cut to “Hold” at Fearnley Fonds

Fearnley Fonds cut shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on GLNG. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Golar LNG from $35.50 to $44.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Golar LNG from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $43.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.63.

Golar LNG Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GLNG opened at $34.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.38. Golar LNG has a fifty-two week low of $19.94 and a fifty-two week high of $39.40.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The shipping company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). Golar LNG had a net margin of 50.89% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $62.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.38 million. On average, analysts expect that Golar LNG will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Golar LNG’s payout ratio is 74.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 431.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 185,018 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,802,000 after acquiring an additional 150,195 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Golar LNG in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Luxor Capital Group LP bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,286,000. Brookfield Corp ON increased its position in Golar LNG by 180.8% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 849,959 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $31,244,000 after purchasing an additional 547,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,920,590 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $70,601,000 after buying an additional 94,336 shares in the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.