Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Reduces Holdings in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lowered its stake in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,257,313 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 329,681 shares during the quarter. Golar LNG accounts for 2.6% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned 3.11% of Golar LNG worth $102,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 4,185 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the second quarter valued at about $212,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in Golar LNG in the first quarter worth about $291,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Golar LNG in the fourth quarter worth about $311,000. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GLNG. StockNews.com downgraded Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $35.50 to $44.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Golar LNG from $43.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Golar LNG from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.10.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLNG opened at $31.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Golar LNG Limited has a 12-month low of $19.94 and a 12-month high of $36.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.26 and a 200 day moving average of $28.48.

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The shipping company reported $0.42 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $62.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.38 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Golar LNG Limited will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Golar LNG’s payout ratio is currently 95.24%.

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.