Invesco Ltd. Buys 319,677 Shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 56.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 887,842 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 319,677 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.85% of Golar LNG worth $37,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Golar LNG by 431.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 185,018 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,802,000 after purchasing an additional 150,195 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 37.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 218,971 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,049,000 after purchasing an additional 59,188 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the fourth quarter worth about $310,000. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Golar LNG during the fourth quarter worth about $2,391,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Golar LNG in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Golar LNG Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ GLNG opened at $37.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 266.59 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.75. Golar LNG Limited has a 1 year low of $24.42 and a 1 year high of $44.36.

Golar LNG Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Golar LNG’s payout ratio is 208.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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