Golar LNG Limited to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the shipping company on Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th.

Golar LNG has a payout ratio of 100.0% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Analysts expect Golar LNG to earn $1.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.7%.

Golar LNG Price Performance

Shares of GLNG traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,078,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,186,445. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.14. Golar LNG has a 52-week low of $19.94 and a 52-week high of $44.36. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 273.88 and a beta of 0.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GLNG shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. DNB Markets cut shares of Golar LNG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds cut shares of 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, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.