Analysts Set Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Target Price at $41.75

Shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.30.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $35.50 to $44.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Golar LNG

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 11.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 348,526 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,926,000 after acquiring an additional 36,389 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the second quarter valued at $470,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 532.0% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 133,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,183,000 after acquiring an additional 112,331 shares during the period. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the second quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the second quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

GLNG opened at $35.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68 and a beta of 0.64. Golar LNG has a 1-year low of $19.94 and a 1-year high of $36.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $63.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.27 million. Golar LNG had a net margin of 38.11% and a return on equity of 10.15%. Equities analysts forecast that Golar LNG will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Golar LNG’s payout ratio is 95.24%.

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.