Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 91,524 Shares of Venture Global, Inc. $VG

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors boosted its stake in Venture Global by 53.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 91,524 additional shares and bringing its total to 263,799 shares worth about $1.8 million.
• Venture Global reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.19 versus the $0.12 consensus estimate, with revenue rising 58.9% year over year to $4.60 billion.
• Analysts remain mixed but constructive on the stock, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $16.27; the company also recently raised its quarterly dividend.

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Free Report) by 53.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 263,799 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 91,524 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Venture Global were worth $1,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VG. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,150,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the 1st quarter worth approximately $152,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the 1st quarter worth approximately $460,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $213,000.

Venture Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VG opened at $13.01 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $13.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.98. Venture Global, Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.72 and a 1 year high of $19.50. The company has a market capitalization of $31.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.07. Venture Global had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 26.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter. Venture Global's revenue was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VG shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Venture Global from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Venture Global from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Venture Global from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $16.27.

Insider Activity

In other Venture Global news, VP Fory Musser sold 1,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total transaction of $10,900,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $11,830,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,094,446 shares of company stock valued at $84,601,768. 84.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Venture Global Profile

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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