Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

GLNG stock opened at $25.10 on Thursday. Golar LNG has a twelve month low of $19.62 and a twelve month high of $25.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.37 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The shipping company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $78.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.85 million. Golar LNG had a negative net margin of 15.68% and a positive return on equity of 11.67%. Analysts predict that Golar LNG will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -232.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Golar LNG

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Golar LNG by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 6,506,757 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $157,854,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Golar LNG by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,427,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $107,416,000 after acquiring an additional 965,932 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in Golar LNG by 197.1% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 2,716,761 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $62,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802,470 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Golar LNG by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,238,512 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $28,473,000 after purchasing an additional 72,672 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,773,000. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Golar LNG

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.