Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Golar LNG has a “Moderate Buy” consensus among seven analysts: four rate it a buy, one a strong buy and two a hold. The average 12-month price target is $63, compared with a recent share price of $51.79.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company, with several firms—including Verbena Value, Brookfield and Huber Capital—recently increasing their positions.
• Golar LNG recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, equivalent to $1.00 annually and a 1.9% yield; its payout ratio is 62.5%.

Shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.00.

GLNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $66.00 price objective on Golar LNG and gave the company a "conviction-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Golar LNG from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Pareto Securities upgraded shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Golar LNG from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Golar LNG

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Verbena Value LP increased its position in Golar LNG by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Verbena Value LP now owns 1,210,402 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $65,495,000 after acquiring an additional 175,802 shares during the period. Rokos Capital Management LLP acquired a new stake in Golar LNG during the 1st quarter worth approximately $63,293,000. Two Seas Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 1,170,998 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $43,573,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 789,859 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $42,739,000 after purchasing an additional 89,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huber Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 1,129,385 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $42,024,000 after purchasing an additional 205,667 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company's stock.

Golar LNG Price Performance

Golar LNG stock opened at $51.79 on Monday. Golar LNG has a fifty-two week low of $35.02 and a fifty-two week high of $57.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 2.34. The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37 and a beta of 0.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.40.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Golar LNG's payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

About Golar LNG

Golar LNG Ltd. NASDAQ: GLNG is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure company focused primarily on floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) solutions. Its business includes the development, ownership and operation of floating facilities that process natural gas offshore, liquefy it for export and transfer the resulting LNG to carriers for delivery to global markets.

The company's FLNG vessels are converted from large LNG carriers or purpose-built to provide offshore liquefaction capacity.

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