Fernwood Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 74,375 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Golar LNG makes up approximately 0.9% of Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Golar LNG were worth $2,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Golar LNG by 74.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,015,644 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,436,000 after purchasing an additional 433,299 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Golar LNG during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,252,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Golar LNG by 171.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 98,506 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 62,205 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Golar LNG by 532.0% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 133,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,183,000 after acquiring an additional 112,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Murchinson Ltd. bought a new position in Golar LNG in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,301,000. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GLNG. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Golar LNG from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Golar LNG from $43.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Golar LNG from $35.50 to $44.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Golar LNG presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.63.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GLNG traded down $0.33 on Friday, hitting $35.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,269,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,000. Golar LNG Limited has a 52-week low of $19.94 and a 52-week high of $39.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.70.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The shipping company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Golar LNG had a net margin of 50.89% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $62.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.38 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.63%.

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.