Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Short Interest Update

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,060,000 shares, an increase of 29.1% from the March 31st total of 2,370,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Golar LNG Trading Down 0.6 %

Golar LNG stock opened at $24.95 on Tuesday. Golar LNG has a 52-week low of $19.62 and a 52-week high of $25.90. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.02 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.71.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The shipping company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $78.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.85 million. Golar LNG had a positive return on equity of 11.67% and a negative net margin of 15.68%. Analysts predict that Golar LNG will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is presently -232.55%.

Institutional Trading of Golar LNG

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GLNG. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 0.8% in the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 6,506,757 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $157,854,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Golar LNG by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,427,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $107,416,000 after purchasing an additional 965,932 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 197.1% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 2,716,761 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $62,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,470 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Golar LNG by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,238,512 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $28,473,000 after purchasing an additional 72,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the fourth quarter worth about $23,773,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

About Golar LNG

Golar LNG Limited designs, owns, and operates marine infrastructure for the liquefaction of natural gas. The company operates through three segments: FLNG, Corporate and Other, and Shipping. It also engages in the regasification, storage, and offloading of liquefied natural gas (LNG); operation of floating liquefaction natural gas (FLNG) vessels; operation of the transportation of LNG carriers; and vessel management.