Citigroup Initiates Coverage on Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Research analysts at Citigroup started coverage on shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $51.00 price target on the shipping company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 30.80% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Golar LNG in a research note on Monday, September 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. B. Riley reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.50 price objective on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Golar LNG in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Golar LNG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Golar LNG has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.50.

Golar LNG Price Performance

GLNG stock opened at $38.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Golar LNG has a twelve month low of $29.56 and a twelve month high of $45.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.20. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -556.92 and a beta of 0.22.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The shipping company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $75.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.37 million. Golar LNG had a negative net margin of 2.83% and a positive return on equity of 6.36%. Research analysts expect that Golar LNG will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Golar LNG

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GLNG. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 358.9% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 647 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Golar LNG during the first quarter worth $26,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Golar LNG during the first quarter worth $31,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Golar LNG by 64.6% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 856 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Golar LNG by 43.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 990 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

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.