Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $54.90 and last traded at $54.6480, with a volume of 1000474 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on GLNG. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $56.00 price target on Golar LNG in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Golar LNG from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Golar LNG from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Golar LNG currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Golar LNG Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 85.00 and a beta of 0.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.43.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). Golar LNG had a net margin of 16.69% and a return on equity of 6.24%. The business had revenue of $132.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $123.29 million. Equities analysts forecast that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 156.25%.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GLNG. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Golar LNG by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 9,178,978 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $378,082,000 after purchasing an additional 203,829 shares during the last quarter. PointState Capital LP boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 3,932,104 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $146,314,000 after buying an additional 637,081 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Golar LNG by 253.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,306,379 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $85,821,000 after buying an additional 1,654,353 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Golar LNG by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,110,671 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $78,538,000 after buying an additional 259,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cartenna Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 13.2% during the third quarter. Cartenna Capital LP now owns 1,925,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $77,789,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

About Golar LNG

Golar LNG Ltd. is a leading owner and operator of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and floating infrastructure. The company specializes in the transportation of LNG on long-term and spot charters for major energy firms around the world. In addition to shipping, Golar LNG has broadened its services to include project development and the conversion of existing carriers into Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) and Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) vessels.

Since pioneering the first purpose-built FLNG conversion project, Golar LNG has been at the forefront of offshore gas monetization.