Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Buys New Shares in Golar LNG Limited $GLNG

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new stake in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 21,303 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $861,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in Golar LNG by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 9,178,978 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $378,082,000 after buying an additional 203,829 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Golar LNG by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,914,741 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $78,868,000 after acquiring an additional 26,838 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Golar LNG by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,345,804 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $55,434,000 after acquiring an additional 26,722 shares in the last quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Golar LNG by 12.4% during the third quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 923,718 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $37,327,000 after acquiring an additional 102,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Seas Capital LP boosted its position in Golar LNG by 76.2% during the second quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 909,355 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $37,456,000 after purchasing an additional 393,406 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Golar LNG Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GLNG opened at $42.94 on Friday. Golar LNG Limited has a 52-week low of $29.56 and a 52-week high of $47.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.09 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.27.

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

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Golar LNG’s payout ratio is currently 156.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GLNG shares. Zacks Research upgraded Golar LNG from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $56.00 price objective on Golar LNG in a report on Monday, February 2nd. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Golar LNG in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.50.

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.