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

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,568,038 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 627,294 shares during the quarter. Golar LNG makes up about 2.6% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Golar LNG were worth $108,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLNG. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,694 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Golar LNG by 20.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 194,665 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,156,000 after purchasing an additional 32,751 shares during the period. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC now owns 761,194 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,981,000 after purchasing an additional 187,924 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Golar LNG by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 639,813 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $23,520,000 after buying an additional 114,531 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,920,590 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $70,601,000 after buying an additional 94,336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DNB Markets lowered Golar LNG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Golar LNG from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.13.

Golar LNG Price Performance

NASDAQ GLNG opened at $37.10 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 265.02 and a beta of 0.78. Golar LNG Limited has a 1-year low of $24.21 and a 1-year high of $44.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.81.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 208.33%.

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.