Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Short Interest Down 16.7% in March

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,890,000 shares, a decline of 16.7% from the February 28th total of 4,670,000 shares. Currently, 4.4% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Golar LNG

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GLNG. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Golar LNG in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Golar LNG in the 4th quarter valued at $2,652,000. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in Golar LNG during the 4th quarter worth $1,185,000. Sagefield Capital LP purchased a new stake in Golar LNG in the fourth quarter valued at $8,725,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Golar LNG by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,871 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 9,169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GLNG shares. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Golar LNG from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Golar LNG from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. DNB Markets downgraded Golar LNG from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Golar LNG to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.13.

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Golar LNG Price Performance

Shares of GLNG stock traded down $3.07 on Friday, hitting $30.70. The stock had a trading volume of 4,899,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,318,327. The company's 50 day moving average price is $38.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.77. Golar LNG has a 1 year low of $24.21 and a 1 year high of $44.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 219.30 and a beta of 0.78.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Golar LNG's payout ratio is currently 208.33%.

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.