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

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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. Equities 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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLNG opened at $51.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 37.11 and a beta of 0.05. Golar LNG has a fifty-two week low of $35.02 and a fifty-two week high of $57.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 2.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.07 and a 200-day moving average of $49.78.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The shipping company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Golar LNG will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GLNG shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Golar LNG from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Pareto Securities lowered shares of Golar LNG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $66.00 target price on shares of Golar LNG and gave the stock a “conviction-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.