JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut its price target on Venture Global from $19 to $16 and kept a "neutral" rating, while the analyst consensus is a "Hold" with an average target of $15.50.
• Company insiders have sold a total of 5,872,223 shares worth $82.0M in the past 90 days (notable sales by Thomas Earl and CFO Jonathan Thayer), and insiders are reported to own 86.73% of the stock.
• VG shares traded at $12.53 (down 1.8%) with a market cap of $30.78B; the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.41 vs. $0.35) and reported revenue of $4.45B, up 191.7% year-over-year.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $19.00 to $16.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective points to a potential upside of 27.73% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Venture Global from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. New Street Research set a $15.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. US Capital Advisors raised shares of Venture Global to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Venture Global from $15.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.50.

Venture Global Trading Down 1.8%

VG stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $12.53. 8,043,537 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,021,666. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.84. Venture Global has a 1 year low of $5.72 and a 1 year high of $19.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.34 and a 200-day moving average of $9.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. Venture Global had a return on equity of 27.96% and a net margin of 18.38%.The business had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Venture Global will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In related news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total value of $11,830,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock worth $82,002,870. 86.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Venture Global by 147.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,862,372 shares of the company's stock worth $324,417,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620,863 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Venture Global by 82.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,812,233 shares of the company's stock worth $73,739,000 after buying an additional 4,893,707 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Venture Global by 520.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,279,598 shares of the company's stock worth $42,827,000 after buying an additional 5,268,053 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Venture Global by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,101,668 shares of the company's stock worth $34,811,000 after buying an additional 273,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Venture Global by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,963,166 shares of the company's stock worth $33,849,000 after buying an additional 219,505 shares in the last quarter.

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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