Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Receives $49.70 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.70.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GLNG. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Dnb Nor Markets upgraded Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. DNB Markets raised Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Golar LNG to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th.

Golar LNG Price Performance

GLNG traded down $0.44 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.22. 925,076 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,463,374. Golar LNG has a twelve month low of $25.50 and a twelve month high of $44.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.28. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.45 and a beta of 0.62.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The shipping company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $63.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.90 million. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 4.92%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Golar LNG will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. Golar LNG's payout ratio is presently 3,333.33%.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Golar LNG by 358.9% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 647 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Golar LNG in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in Golar LNG during the fourth quarter worth $107,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 116.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,975 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company's stock.

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.