Golar LNG Limited Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 27th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the shipping company on Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd.

Golar LNG has a payout ratio of 96.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings tumble. Analysts expect Golar LNG to earn $1.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.7%.

Golar LNG Price Performance

NASDAQ:GLNG traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 965,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,464,546. Golar LNG has a fifty-two week low of $25.50 and a fifty-two week high of $44.36. The firm's 50 day moving average is $38.15 and its 200-day moving average is $39.18. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 296.02 and a beta of 0.62.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The shipping company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.09. Golar LNG had a net margin of 4.92% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The company had revenue of $63.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.90 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Golar LNG will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GLNG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DNB Markets raised shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Wednesday. Dnb Nor Markets raised shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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, Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Golar LNG

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Golar LNG stock. Amundi boosted its stake in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG - Free Report) by 29.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,586 shares of the shipping company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,468 shares during the quarter. Amundi's holdings in Golar LNG were worth $744,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Golar LNG Company 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.