Murchinson Ltd. Acquires New Shares in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Murchinson Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 41,508 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 84.3% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 101,438 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 46,393 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 74.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,015,644 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,436,000 after acquiring an additional 433,299 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Golar LNG during the 1st quarter worth $1,252,000. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Golar LNG during the 1st quarter worth $1,049,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Golar LNG by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 98,506 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 62,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Golar LNG from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Golar LNG from $43.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price objective on Golar LNG from $35.50 to $44.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.63.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

GLNG stock opened at $37.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.32. Golar LNG Limited has a 1-year low of $19.94 and a 1-year high of $37.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 35.71 and a beta of 0.58.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The shipping company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Golar LNG had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 50.89%. The business had revenue of $62.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.38 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Golar LNG’s payout ratio is 95.24%.

Golar LNG 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.