Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Venture Global has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, based on coverage from 17 firms: nine rate it a buy and eight rate it a hold. The average 12-month price target is $16.30.
• The company has been getting a series of positive catalysts, including a Citi upgrade to Buy, higher annual core profit guidance, and a first-quarter earnings beat with EPS of $0.19 versus $0.12 expected. Revenue also jumped 58.9% year over year to $4.6 billion.
• Venture Global is also expanding its commercial footprint, announcing new LNG supply deals with TotalEnergies and Vitol totaling just over 1 mtpa for five years. Meanwhile, the stock was trading down 2.2% at $12.98 in the article.

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.30.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. New Street Research set a $15.00 target price on Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Venture Global from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Venture Global from $15.00 to $18.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Venture Global from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Trending Headlines about Venture Global

Here are the key news stories impacting Venture Global this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup upgraded Venture Global to Buy, citing “meaningful torque” from an elevated margin environment, which suggests more earnings upside if LNG pricing stays favorable. Venture Global raised to Buy at Citi on 'meaningful torque in elevated margin environment'
• Positive Sentiment: The company lifted its annual core profit outlook after reporting higher liquefaction fees and stronger LNG sales, reinforcing the case for improving fundamentals. Venture Global lifts annual core profit forecast on higher liquefaction fees, LNG sales
• Positive Sentiment: Venture Global reported first-quarter EPS of $0.19, beating estimates, while revenue rose 58.9% year over year to $4.6 billion, a clear earnings beat that helped drive the stock’s recent jump. Venture Global (VG) Shares Jump After Strong First-Quarter Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced new LNG supply agreements with TotalEnergies and Vitol covering just over 1 mtpa for five years, signaling continued commercial demand for its exports. Venture Global signs new LNG supply deals with TotalEnergies, Vitol
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity surged, with investors buying a large volume of call options, which may reflect speculation that shares can extend their post-earnings move. Investors Buy Large Volume of Venture Global Call Options NYSE: VG
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer and other market-watch items added to the attention around the stock, but these were not direct fundamental catalysts. Jim Cramer Discusses Venture Global’s Pullback
• Neutral Sentiment: Venture Global added to CP2 bolt-on plans, indicating ongoing project development, though the near-term stock impact is less clear than the earnings and contract news. Venture Global adds to CP2 bolt-on plans

Venture Global Trading Down 2.2%

VG opened at $12.98 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $13.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.96. The company has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.44. Venture Global has a 52 week low of $5.72 and a 52 week high of $19.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 26.90% and a net margin of 16.94%.The firm's revenue was up 58.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Venture Global will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.018 per share. 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. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Venture Global's payout ratio is 8.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Venture Global news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $3,200,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,094,446 shares of company stock worth $84,601,768 over the last quarter. Insiders own 84.24% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Venture Global by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,429 shares of the company's stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Venture Global by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,336 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its position in shares of Venture Global by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 12,254 shares of the company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Venture Global by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Venture Global by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 93,615 shares of the company's stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 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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