Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $16.87

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Sixteen analysts give Venture Global a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average 12-month price target of $16.87. Wells Fargo raised its rating to “overweight” and its target to $21.
• The stock was under pressure: Shares opened at $12 after a reported 7.7% decline; the 52-week trading range is $5.72 to $17.62.
• Results and dividend improved: Quarterly earnings of $0.51 per share narrowly beat estimates, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.04 per share. Insiders sold about 2.49 million shares over the past 90 days.

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.87.

Several brokerages have commented on VG. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Venture Global from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Venture Global from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th.

Venture Global Trading Down 7.7%

VG opened at $12.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $30.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.75 and a 200-day moving average of $12.72. Venture Global has a 52 week low of $5.72 and a 52 week high of $17.62.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 34.08% and a net margin of 21.24%. Equities research analysts predict that Venture Global will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. This is a positive change from Venture Global's previous quarterly dividend of $0.0180. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Venture Global's payout ratio is 12.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sari Granat sold 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.49, for a total value of $2,698,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 111,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total value of $1,539,998.46. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,493,553 shares of company stock valued at $35,074,470. 84.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VG. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Venture Global by 3.8% in the second quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 27,000 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Venture Global by 11.3% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 13,484 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Venture Global by 7.0% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its holdings in Venture Global by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 17,587 shares of the company's stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Venture Global by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 78,310 shares of the company's stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893 shares during the last quarter.

About Venture Global

Venture Global, Inc NYSE: VG is a U.S.-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) company that develops, constructs, owns and operates LNG export facilities. The company sources natural gas, processes it into LNG and exports the product to customers in international energy markets.

Venture Global's operating and development portfolio is concentrated along the U.S. Gulf Coast, particularly in Louisiana. Its projects include the Calcasieu Pass LNG facility, the Plaquemines LNG facility and additional proposed developments such as CP2 LNG and Delta LNG.

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