Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

GLNG has been the topic of several other reports. Dnb Nor Markets raised shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. DNB Markets raised shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Golar LNG in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.88.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Golar LNG stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.42. The company had a trading volume of 2,458,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,479,418. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 1,381.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Golar LNG has a one year low of $29.29 and a one year high of $44.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.44 and a 200 day moving average of $39.61.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The shipping company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 1.04% and a return on equity of 6.82%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Golar LNG will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Golar LNG's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,333.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLNG. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Golar LNG by 358.9% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 647 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Golar LNG in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Golar LNG in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Golar LNG in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Golar LNG in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Golar LNG

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.