Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Rating Lowered to Hold at Fearnley Fonds

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

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Golar LNG from $43.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley increased 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 dropped their price objective on Golar LNG from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.63.

Golar LNG Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of GLNG traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 334,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,487. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11 and a beta of 0.58. Golar LNG has a 1-year low of $19.94 and a 1-year high of $39.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.37.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last issued its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $62.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.38 million. Golar LNG had a net margin of 50.89% and a return on equity of 9.20%. As a group, research analysts predict that Golar LNG will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Golar LNG

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 467.9% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,843,100 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the third quarter worth $36,865,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 870,233 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 53.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,732,655 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $54,319,000 after acquiring an additional 605,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 74.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,015,644 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,436,000 after acquiring an additional 433,299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.