Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Short Interest Update

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,730,000 shares, a growth of 20.3% from the December 15th total of 3,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 4.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Golar LNG by 467.9% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,237,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $82,232,000 after buying an additional 1,843,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Golar LNG by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,920,590 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $70,601,000 after acquiring an additional 94,336 shares in the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP purchased a new stake in Golar LNG during the third quarter worth approximately $36,865,000. Brookfield Corp ON boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 180.8% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 849,959 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,244,000 after purchasing an additional 547,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC raised its holdings in Golar LNG by 32.8% during the third quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC now owns 761,194 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $27,981,000 after purchasing an additional 187,924 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Golar LNG Price Performance

Shares of GLNG stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,401,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,111,455. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.74 and a beta of 0.59. Golar LNG has a 1-year low of $19.94 and a 1-year high of $44.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.83.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is presently 714.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Golar LNG from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds lowered shares of Golar LNG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Golar LNG has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.13.

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.