Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Downgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

NASDAQ GLNG opened at $25.10 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.70. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -58.37 and a beta of 0.61. Golar LNG has a 1-year low of $19.62 and a 1-year high of $25.90.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The shipping company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.40. Golar LNG had a positive return on equity of 11.67% and a negative net margin of 15.68%. The firm had revenue of $78.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.85 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Golar LNG will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Golar LNG’s payout ratio is presently -232.56%.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GLNG. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Golar LNG during the fourth quarter worth $117,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Golar LNG by 26,805.3% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,112 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 5,093 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Golar LNG in the 4th quarter valued at $133,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the 3rd quarter worth $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

About Golar LNG

Golar LNG Limited designs, owns, and operates marine infrastructure for the liquefaction of natural gas. The company operates through three segments: FLNG, Corporate and Other, and Shipping. It also engages in the regasification, storage, and offloading of liquefied natural gas (LNG); operation of floating liquefaction natural gas (FLNG) vessels; operation of the transportation of LNG carriers; and vessel management.