Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Hits New 52-Week High at $31.81

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.75.

Golar LNG Trading Up 1.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.38.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $63.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.27 million. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 38.11%. As a group, analysts expect that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GLNG. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of 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 worth $157,854,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in Golar LNG by 32.0% in the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,586,994 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $86,303,000 after purchasing an additional 870,233 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Golar LNG by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,238,512 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $28,473,000 after purchasing an additional 72,672 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the fourth quarter worth $23,773,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 74.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,015,644 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,436,000 after buying an additional 433,299 shares during the period. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.