Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Consensus "Hold": 17 analysts cover Venture Global with nine Hold and eight Buy ratings, and the average 12‑month price target is $15.77.
• The company beat quarterly expectations (Q1 EPS $0.41 vs. $0.35) and reported revenue of $4.45 billion, up 191.7%, yet the stock was down about 9.9% and traded near $11.43.
• Significant insider selling: insiders sold roughly 5.87 million shares (≈$82.0 million) over the past three months, despite insiders being reported to own 86.73% of the company.

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.7667.

A number of analysts recently commented on VG shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research raised Venture Global from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on Venture Global from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Venture Global from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Venture Global from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd.

Venture Global Stock Down 9.9%

Shares of Venture Global stock opened at $11.43 on Friday. 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 has a 52-week low of $5.72 and a 52-week high of $19.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.84. The company's 50 day moving average price is $12.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.82.

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

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.018 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This is a positive change from Venture Global's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Venture Global's payout ratio is 8.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total value of $11,830,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total value of $41,986,664.88. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock worth $82,002,870. Insiders own 86.73% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VG. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new position in Venture Global in the first quarter worth $2,150,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Venture Global in the first quarter worth $152,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Venture Global in the first quarter worth $460,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Venture Global in the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new position in Venture Global in the second quarter worth $213,000.

Venture Global Company 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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