Increasing global demand for liquefied natural gas over the next few years will help shares of New Fortress Energy more than double, according to Deutsche Bank. The firm initiated coverage of the natural gas company with a buy rating, and analyst Chris Robertson set his price target at $60 per share, implying 110% upside from last Thursday’s close. “Recent geopolitical developments notwithstanding, we see a larger backdrop towards energy transition away from traditional, more carbon intensive fuels to cleaner or zero-carbon alternatives,” Robertson wrote in a Sunday note. “As such, we believe natural gas will be an important bridge fuel in the coming years as combustion of natural gas results in ~50% less carbon emissions [than] traditional coal combustion.” Deutsche anticipates New Fortress Energy earnings will grow by more than 235% from 2022 to 2025. The energy group’s construction of floating liquefied natural gas assets in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as two additional terminals, puts the company on an attractive “[earnings] growth runway over the coming years,” according to Robertson. To be sure, Robertson’s estimates assume that New Fortress Energy secures more of its volumes on period contracts rather than selling on the spot market. Spot rates are based on prevailing market conditions and are subject to real-time fluctuations, which make them more volatile. Longer-dated contracts “should result in lower EBITDA margins, when comparing against extreme commodity price volatility in today’s LNG market, but [provide] greater volumes locked in on duration with more stable and predictable cash flows,” Robertson said. Shares of New Fortress were up as much as 6.1% Monday, but have fallen 31% year to date after soaring 76% in 2022. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.