Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Declares $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the shipping company on Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th.

Golar LNG has a dividend payout ratio of 96.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Analysts expect Golar LNG to earn $0.45 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 222.2%.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Shares of GLNG traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $51.21. The stock had a trading volume of 3,192,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,611,999. Golar LNG has a 52 week low of $35.02 and a 52 week high of $57.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 2.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $50.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.71. The firm has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.11 and a beta of 0.05.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The shipping company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 30.10%.The company had revenue of $137.55 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Golar LNG will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GLNG. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Pareto Securities cut shares of Golar LNG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Golar LNG from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Golar LNG has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.70.

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.