Golar LNG (GLNG) & The Competition Financial Contrast

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) is one of 1,050 public companies in the “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Golar LNG to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Dividends

Golar LNG pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Golar LNG pays out 62.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies pay a dividend yield of 8.6% and pay out -122.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Golar LNG has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Golar LNG lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Golar LNG and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Golar LNG	$523.38 million	$65.68 million	27.94
Golar LNG Competitors	$11.50 billion	$5.51 billion	0.23

Golar LNG’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Golar LNG. Golar LNG is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Golar LNG and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Golar LNG	0	1	4	1	3.00
Golar LNG Competitors	5964	26939	40766	2404	2.52

Golar LNG presently has a consensus target price of $68.67, indicating a potential upside of 53.58%. As a group, “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies have a potential upside of 21.74%. Given Golar LNG’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Golar LNG is more favorable than its peers.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.2% of Golar LNG shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.7% of shares of all “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Golar LNG shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 15.5% of shares of all “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Golar LNG and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Golar LNG	31.27%	8.91%	3.75%
Golar LNG Competitors	-471.71%	20.53%	6.26%

Volatility and Risk

Golar LNG has a beta of 0.13, suggesting that its share price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golar LNG’s peers have a beta of -4.04, suggesting that their average share price is 504% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Golar LNG beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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. Golar LNG Limited was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.