Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 995,725 Shares of Venture Global, Inc. $VG

Key Points

• Catalyst Capital Advisors boosted its Venture Global stake by 53.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 995,725 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 2,871,398 shares worth about $19.6 million.
• Insider selling was heavy, with CAO Sarah Blake and CFO Jonathan W. Thayer both selling large blocks of stock; insiders sold 10.33 million shares worth $140.5 million over the last 90 days.
• Venture Global posted stronger-than-expected results, reporting Q1 EPS of $0.19 versus a $0.12 consensus and revenue of $4.60 billion, up 58.9% year over year; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a $16.25 average target.

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Free Report) by 53.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,871,398 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 995,725 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Venture Global worth $19,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new stake in Venture Global during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,150,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 1st quarter valued at $152,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Venture Global in the 1st quarter worth $460,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Venture Global in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new position in Venture Global in the 2nd quarter worth $213,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Venture Global news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 300,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.85, for a total value of $3,555,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total transaction of $41,986,664.88. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,331,623 shares of company stock worth $140,465,488. Insiders own 84.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Venture Global in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Venture Global from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. US Capital Advisors set a $13.00 target price on Venture Global in a report on Friday. Mizuho raised their target price on Venture Global from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Venture Global from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $16.25.

Venture Global Stock Performance

VG opened at $12.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.66 and a 200 day moving average of $10.36. Venture Global, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.72 and a fifty-two week high of $19.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 26.90%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.018 dividend. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This is an increase from Venture Global's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Venture Global's dividend payout ratio is 7.78%.

About Venture Global

Venture Global NYSE: VG is a Houston-based energy company that develops, constructs and operates large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in the United States. The company focuses on converting domestically produced natural gas into LNG for shipment to international markets, positioning itself as a supplier of pipeline-quality gas in vessel-ready form for global customers.

Venture Global's core activities include site development, engineering and construction of liquefaction and export terminals, commissioning and ongoing operations of those facilities, and commercial marketing of LNG under both long-term and short-term contracts.

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