Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,730,000 shares, an increase of 20.3% from the December 15th total of 3,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 4.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Golar LNG in the 2nd quarter valued at $364,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Golar LNG by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,689 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,185,000 after buying an additional 9,139 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Golar LNG by 4.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 32,531 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 1,502 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Golar LNG by 115.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 305,992 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,593,000 after acquiring an additional 163,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in Golar LNG during the second quarter worth about $249,000. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Golar LNG Stock Up 1.4 %

GLNG opened at $41.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.74 and a beta of 0.59. Golar LNG has a twelve month low of $19.94 and a twelve month high of $44.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.83.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 714.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds cut Golar LNG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.13.

About Golar LNG

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.