Critical Survey: Golar LNG (GLNG) & Its Peers

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) is one of 1,051 public companies in the “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Golar LNG to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Golar LNG and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Golar LNG	$393.52 million	$65.68 million	26.92
Golar LNG Competitors	$14.81 billion	$5.51 billion	-0.95

Golar LNG’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Golar LNG. Golar LNG is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Golar LNG and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Golar LNG	0	1	4	1	3.00
Golar LNG Competitors	5982	26994	40850	2423	2.52

Golar LNG currently has a consensus target price of $68.67, indicating a potential upside of 59.43%. As a group, “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies have a potential upside of 28.92%. Given Golar LNG’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Golar LNG is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Golar LNG and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Golar LNG	31.27%	8.91%	3.75%
Golar LNG Competitors	-456.96%	19.46%	6.50%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.2% of Golar LNG shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.8% of shares of all “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Golar LNG shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.3% of shares of all “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Golar LNG has a beta of 0.15, suggesting that its share price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golar LNG’s competitors have a beta of -3.76, suggesting that their average share price is 476% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Golar LNG pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Golar LNG pays out 62.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.2% and pay out -133.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Golar LNG has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Golar LNG lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

Golar LNG beats its competitors on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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. Golar LNG Limited was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.