Golar LNG Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 9,369 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 213% compared to the typical volume of 2,997 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GLNG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Golar LNG from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Golar LNG

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG in the 2nd quarter worth about $212,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Golar LNG during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Golar LNG in the first quarter valued at approximately $764,000. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Golar LNG in the first quarter worth approximately $291,000. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its position in Golar LNG by 122.0% during the 1st quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 75,060 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,806,000 after acquiring an additional 41,250 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

GLNG remained flat at $34.30 on Thursday. The company had a trading volume of 1,016,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,183,530. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.88. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67 and a beta of 0.64. Golar LNG has a 1 year low of $19.94 and a 1 year high of $34.59.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 38.11%. The company had revenue of $63.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.27 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Golar LNG will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.24%.

Golar LNG Company 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.