Golar LNG Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 9,369 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 213% compared to the average daily volume of 2,997 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GLNG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Golar LNG from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Golar LNG from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.75.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Shares of GLNG stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 811,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,180,735. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.50 and a 200-day moving average of $24.95. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 32.64 and a beta of 0.64. Golar LNG has a 52 week low of $19.94 and a 52 week high of $34.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. Golar LNG had a net margin of 38.11% and a return on equity of 10.15%. The firm had revenue of $63.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.27 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Golar LNG will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is 95.24%.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $4,183,000 after purchasing an additional 112,331 shares during the period. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the second quarter worth about $212,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Golar LNG during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Golar LNG in the 1st quarter worth about $764,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Golar LNG in the first quarter worth approximately $291,000. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Golar LNG Company Profile

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.