StockNews.com Upgrades Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) to Hold

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

GLNG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Golar LNG from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.75.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Shares of GLNG stock opened at $34.28 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.95. Golar LNG has a 52 week low of $19.94 and a 52 week high of $34.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 32.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.45 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.27 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Golar LNG will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,800 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,802 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 35,203 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 1,215 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 49,286 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Golar LNG

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.