Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Lowers Holdings in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,568,038 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 627,294 shares during the period. Golar LNG comprises 2.6% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned approximately 2.46% of Golar LNG worth $108,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GLNG. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Golar LNG during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Golar LNG during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Golar LNG during the fourth quarter valued at $107,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Golar LNG by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,975 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Golar LNG in the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on GLNG. DNB Markets cut Golar LNG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Golar LNG from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. StockNews.com raised Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.13.

Golar LNG Price Performance

NASDAQ GLNG opened at $37.10 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.81. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 265.02 and a beta of 0.78. Golar LNG Limited has a 1-year low of $24.21 and a 1-year high of $44.36.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 208.33%.

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.