Golar LNG (NASDAQ: GLNG)‘s stock had its “sell” rating restated by analysts at ABG Sundal Collier in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, ARN reports. They currently have a $29.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $33.00. ABG Sundal Collier’s price target points to a potential downside of 6.18% from the company’s current price.
The analysts wrote, “With Golar LNG having 12 unfixed modern/newbuild LNGCs, shipping is still the near term focus. There are 48 newbuilds scheduled for delivery within a year and a half without a similar increase in demand. Competition will consequently heat up; at least 12-15 vessels are available for charter in 2013 alone. Further, some shipowners will require long term employment in order to secure financing; this could cause additional pressure on rates. We lower our five year rate forecast to USD 70k/d (from 77k/d) for GLNG’s vessels, implying a 5% cut on EPS for 2014e. Despite the recent share price weakness, we still believe it’s too early to turn positive as the equity market expectations are still too high; our ’14e/’15e EPS is 2%/15% below FactSet consensus, respectively. Our revised NAV assessment is USD 27 /share, which still suggests limited valuation support. We reiterate SELL and lower our TP to USD 29 (USD 33), reflecting our lower estimates. Golar LNG will report its Q2 results in late August.”
A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on GLNG. Analysts at Zacks downgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, June 11th. They now have a $32.50 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Raymond James downgraded shares of Golar LNG from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note to investors on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday, May 15th. They now have a $32.50 price target on the stock, down previously from $41.00.
Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Golar LNG currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.75.
Shares of Golar LNG (NASDAQ: GLNG) traded up 1.75% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.45. Golar LNG has a 52 week low of $30.51 and a 52 week high of $43.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $33.60. The company has a market cap of $2.532 billion and a P/E ratio of 2.39.
Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ: GLNG) is the owner and operator of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and floating storage regasification units (FSRUs).