Golar LNG Shares Jumped: What You Need to Know

Althoughwedon'tbelieveintimingthemarketorpanickingovermarketmovements,wedoliketokeepaneyeonbigchanges--justincasethey'rematerialtoourinvestingthesis.

What: Shares of liquid natural gas shipper Golar LNG (NAS: GLNG) hit a gusher this morning, rising as much as 10.4% in intraday trading on about double their average trading volume.

Sowhat: Bloomberg reports that Japan, South Korea, and China all are increasing their natural gas imports drastically at the moment, boosting LNG prices substantially. Japan's heavy consumption to make up for disabled nuclear reactors is of particular interest to Golar, as the company can benefit from doing the actual import shipments.

Nowwhat: Golar shares recently tripled in less than 12 months and hit a plateau along with the rest of the market. The stock is expensive relative to its growth, and its P/E ratio is about three times that of primary rival Teekay LNG Partners (NYS: TGP) . But Golar plays a vital role in a game-changing industry, and pays a generous dividend to boot. With a little boost from the Far East, Golar should continue to reward investors.

InterestedinmoreinfoonGolar LNG?Addittoyourwatchlistbyclicking here.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies discussed here. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.