Wall Street Zen Downgrades Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) to Sell

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

GLNG has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $56.00 target price on shares of Golar LNG in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Golar LNG from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Golar LNG has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Golar LNG Trading Up 2.8%

Golar LNG stock opened at $44.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.47 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.55. Golar LNG has a 52 week low of $29.56 and a 52 week high of $46.23.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $132.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.29 million. Golar LNG had a net margin of 16.69% and a return on equity of 6.24%. Analysts expect that Golar LNG will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 29.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 19,586 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 4,468 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Golar LNG by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 58,915 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Golar LNG by 110.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Golar LNG by 2.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,202 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 13,084.4% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 17,799 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 17,664 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Golar LNG Company Profile

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.