Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 63,600 Shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its holdings in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 33.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,255 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 63,600 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.12% of Golar LNG worth $3,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GLNG. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Golar LNG in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 4,185 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Finally, Terril Brothers Inc. purchased a new stake in Golar LNG during the 2nd quarter valued at $263,000. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GLNG shares. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Golar LNG from $35.50 to $44.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Golar LNG from $43.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Golar LNG from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Golar LNG has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.63.

Golar LNG Price Performance

Shares of GLNG stock opened at $34.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.16. Golar LNG Limited has a one year low of $19.94 and a one year high of $36.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $62.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.38 million. Golar LNG had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 50.89%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.24%.

Golar LNG 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.