Bank of America Corp DE Raises Stock Position in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG - Free Report) by 100.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 398,473 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 199,351 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.38% of Golar LNG worth $16,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,093,098 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $46,260,000 after purchasing an additional 18,475 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Golar LNG by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 887,842 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $37,573,000 after acquiring an additional 319,677 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Golar LNG by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 753,582 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $31,892,000 after acquiring an additional 113,769 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Golar LNG by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 747,675 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $31,642,000 after acquiring an additional 75,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Discovery Capital Management LLC CT acquired a new stake in Golar LNG in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,719,000. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GLNG. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Dnb Nor Markets upgraded shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Golar LNG to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, DNB Markets raised shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Golar LNG presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.70.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

NASDAQ GLNG traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.73. 1,944,410 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,449,169. Golar LNG Limited has a 1-year low of $25.33 and a 1-year high of $44.36. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $37.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 269.52 and a beta of 0.62.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Golar LNG's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 208.33%.

Golar LNG 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.