Wall Street Zen Downgrades Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) from a "hold" to a "sell" in its latest research report.
• Analyst views remain mixed — one Strong Buy, two Buy and three Hold — giving a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $51.13, with individual targets around the mid-$50s (Goldman $56, BTIG $53).
• Shares opened at $52.63 (52‑week range $35.02–$56.81) with a $5.33B market cap, and institutional investors own 92.21% of the stock after substantial position increases by Rubric, PointState and T. Rowe Price.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on GLNG. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Golar LNG from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.13.

Golar LNG Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of GLNG opened at $52.63 on Friday. Golar LNG has a one year low of $35.02 and a one year high of $56.81. The company has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.24 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.64.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The shipping company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter. Golar LNG had a net margin of 16.69% and a return on equity of 6.24%. The business had revenue of $132.81 million during the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Golar LNG will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its position in Golar LNG by 2.3% during the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 9,178,978 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $378,082,000 after acquiring an additional 203,829 shares during the last quarter. PointState Capital LP boosted its position in Golar LNG by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 3,932,104 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $146,314,000 after acquiring an additional 637,081 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Golar LNG by 253.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,306,379 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $85,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654,353 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Golar LNG by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,110,671 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $78,538,000 after acquiring an additional 259,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cartenna Capital LP boosted its position in Golar LNG by 13.2% during the third quarter. Cartenna Capital LP now owns 1,925,000 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $77,789,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company's stock.

Golar LNG Company Profile

Golar LNG Ltd. is a leading owner and operator of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and floating infrastructure. The company specializes in the transportation of LNG on long-term and spot charters for major energy firms around the world. In addition to shipping, Golar LNG has broadened its services to include project development and the conversion of existing carriers into Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) and Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) vessels.

Since pioneering the first purpose-built FLNG conversion project, Golar LNG has been at the forefront of offshore gas monetization.

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