Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 13,234 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 404% compared to the average daily volume of 2,626 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Golar LNG from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Golar LNG

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CenterBook Partners LP increased its holdings in Golar LNG by 84.3% in the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 101,438 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 46,393 shares in the last quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Golar LNG during the fourth quarter worth $1,498,000. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 0.8% during the third 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. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 59.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 888,096 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $21,545,000 after buying an additional 330,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP grew its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 709.8% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 157,448 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,620,000 after buying an additional 138,006 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLNG opened at $28.64 on Tuesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $19.62 and a 12 month high of $29.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28 and a beta of 0.61.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.24%.

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.