Golar LNG enters the back half of August with a notable internal contradiction: short sellers have been adding aggressively to positions, yet the lending market remains far too loose to generate any real squeeze pressure.
The short interest story is the week's standout. Bearish positioning has climbed to 7.6% of the free float — up 16% over the past week and 21% over the past month. That pace of accumulation is striking. From mid-July through mid-August, short interest held steady in a narrow band around 6.7–6.8 million shares. Then, starting around August 18, a clear step-change began, with the count jumping to 7.8 million shares by August 25. That's the highest level in the 30-day window by a meaningful margin, and the direction-of-travel is unambiguous.
What makes the positioning picture genuinely interesting is the disconnect between that short buildup and borrow conditions. Availability is running at 703% — meaning roughly seven shares remain available for every one currently borrowed. That's a steep drop from the prior week's reading above 800%, but still firmly in "normal" territory by any standard measure. Cost to borrow, meanwhile, has eased over the past month to just 0.55% annually, close to the cheapest level in the 30-day window. Short sellers are adding fast, but they're doing so into a market that is offering no friction whatsoever. Options positioning corroborates the relaxed tone: the put/call ratio at 0.34 is actually running slightly below its 20-day average of 0.36, suggesting options traders are not hedging defensively alongside the short sellers.
The Street's positioning on GLNG looks tilted bullish, but with a narrowing gap to the current price. BTIG raised its price target to $70 from $67 on August 14 — the most recent action, and one that widens the bull case materially from the stock's $52 close. The mean analyst target across the coverage universe sits around $64, implying roughly 23% upside. The analyst recommendation score ranks in the 90th percentile of its universe — an unusually strong read for what is still a hold/outperform-split consensus. Valuation is less flattering: the trailing P/E has risen to nearly 58x, up about 10 points over the past 30 days, driven by the stock's 7% monthly gain. EV/EBITDA at 24.8x has moved the other way — down slightly over the same window — but neither multiple screams cheap. Factor scores reinforce the caution: EPS momentum over 30 days ranks in just the 6th percentile, and EPS surprise sits in the 32nd, suggesting estimates have been getting harder to beat.
One institutional development worth noting: Sachem Head Capital Management entered the register with 3.62 million shares as of June 30 — a new position that made it the sixth-largest holder. That's a meaningful activist-adjacent fund building a stake of roughly 3.5% of shares. T. Rowe Price and BlackRock also added shares in the most recent reporting period, while Invesco lifted its holding by over one million shares. The institutional mix is tilting toward engaged holders rather than passive ones, which adds a different dimension to any prolonged short thesis.
The next earnings event is scheduled for November 9. Between now and then, the key dynamic to watch is whether short interest continues its current acceleration — and whether availability begins to tighten in response, closing the gap between a rising short count and a lending market that, for now, is offering bears all the rope they want.
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