Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Hits New 1-Year High at $25.90

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $25.90 and last traded at $25.68, with a volume of 152500 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised Golar LNG from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday.

Golar LNG Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.02 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The shipping company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $78.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.85 million. Golar LNG had a positive return on equity of 11.67% and a negative net margin of 15.68%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. Golar LNG's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -232.55%.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hosking Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 766,339 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $18,591,000 after acquiring an additional 128,416 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 6,506,757 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $157,854,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 888,096 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $21,545,000 after acquiring an additional 330,059 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 51,107 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 8,120 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 79.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 396,674 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $9,623,000 after acquiring an additional 175,348 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, owns, and operates marine infrastructure for the liquefaction of natural gas. The company operates through three segments: FLNG, Corporate and Other, and Shipping. It also engages in the regasification, storage, and offloading of liquefied natural gas (LNG); operation of floating liquefaction natural gas (FLNG) vessels; operation of the transportation of LNG carriers; and vessel management.