Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific stock tips as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle.

This week we had a question from an Inner Circle Member about Golar LNG, which ships liquefied natural gas (LNG). The company operates LNG tankers and oversees projects converting gas into liquid. Pat takes a closer look at Golar’s business and the current state of the LNG trade as it flows from the Middle East to the Pacific. He assesses Golar’s prospects of capturing a greater share of the growing export trade to Asia at a time when shipping rates have fallen due to the global expansion of LNG carrier fleets.

Q: Hello: would you be able to give me your opinion on Golar LNG, in which I have a position.

A: Golar LNG (symbol GLNG on Nasdaq; www.golarlng.com) is a Bermuda-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping company.

Golar operates and charters LNG tankers. In all, it owns nine carriers and four floating storage and regasification units. It also develops liquefaction projects, which convert gas into a liquid, and holds 41.4% of Golar LNG Partners (symbol GMLP on Nasdaq).

LNG, or natural gas that has been cooled into a liquefied form, can be transported by tanker. Up to now, the LNG trade has been concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region with gas sourced from Asia and the Middle East (mainly Qatar, Malaysia and Indonesia).

High-yielding dividend won’t be raised until shipping rates recover

Huge shale gas discoveries have given the U.S. and Canada abundant supplies of low-cost natural gas. But right now they have only limited capacity to export LNG. However, both countries aim to become significant exporters of LNG to Asia, opening up further opportunities for LNG shippers.

Last year, LNG shipping rates dropped, mostly because the high rates of the preceding years led to an expansion of global LNG carrier fleets. However, LNG’s long-term outlook is strong—and one big reason is the prospect of rising exports from North America to countries like Japan, China and South Korea, where gas sells at a big premium to North American prices. That should push up shipping rates.

Shares of Golar now trade at 43.2 times this year’s forecast earnings of $0.70 a share.

The company currently pays a $0.45 quarterly dividend, which yields 6.0% on a yearly basis. Golar plans to maintain that rate but doesn’t anticipate increasing its dividend until shipping rates rebound.

We view Golar LNG as a hold, but for aggressive investors only.

Monday we look at how difficult it can be for tech stocks to find a strong niche for themselves.