Golar LNG (GLNG) and The Competition Critical Analysis

Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) is one of 1,051 public companies in the “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Golar LNG to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.2% of Golar LNG shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.8% 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, 15.3% of shares of all “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Golar LNG and its peers, as provided 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	5970	26964	40817	2413	2.52

Golar LNG presently has a consensus price target of $68.67, indicating a potential upside of 61.30%. As a group, “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies have a potential upside of 28.37%. Given Golar LNG’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Golar LNG is more favorable than its peers.

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	-469.71%	19.37%	6.42%

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Golar LNG	$393.52 million	$65.68 million	26.61
Golar LNG Competitors	$11.60 billion	$5.51 billion	-0.45

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.

Dividends

Golar LNG pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. 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 9.1% and pay out -123.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Golar LNG has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Golar LNG lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

Golar LNG has a beta of 0.15, indicating that its stock price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golar LNG’s peers have a beta of -3.76, indicating that their average stock price is 476% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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

Golar LNG Company Profile

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.