Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average of $24.38

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $24.38 and traded as high as $31.76. Golar LNG shares last traded at $31.02, with a volume of 1,563,032 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Golar LNG from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Golar LNG currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.75.

Golar LNG Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.54 and a beta of 0.64.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $63.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.27 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Golar LNG by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 6,506,757 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $157,854,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in Golar LNG by 32.0% in the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,586,994 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $86,303,000 after acquiring an additional 870,233 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 72,672 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Golar LNG during the 4th quarter worth $23,773,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Golar LNG by 74.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,015,644 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,436,000 after purchasing an additional 433,299 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

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.