Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Venture Global's shares gapped down in premarket trading, opening at $12.37 vs. the prior close of $12.75 and last trading around $12.53 with about 3.4 million shares changing hands (roughly a 3.2% decline).
• Analyst activity is mixed: the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $15.70, though several firms raised targets and Morgan Stanley upgraded to "Overweight" with a $22 target.
• The company reported an earnings beat (EPS $0.41 vs. $0.35 consensus) and revenue of $4.45 billion (+191.7% YoY), while insiders sold roughly $82 million of stock in the last 90 days.

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $12.75, but opened at $12.37. Venture Global shares last traded at $12.5260, with a volume of 3,422,924 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $15.00 to $18.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Venture Global from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Venture Global from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, New Street Research set a $15.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Venture Global has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.70.

Venture Global Trading Down 3.2%

The business's 50 day moving average price is $12.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.85. The company has a market capitalization of $30.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.84. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. Venture Global had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.96%. The company had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.018 per share. This is a boost from Venture Global's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Venture Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Venture Global

In other news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $11,830,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total transaction of $41,986,664.88. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock valued at $82,002,870 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 86.73% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,641,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 3rd quarter worth about $13,632,000. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,706,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Venture Global by 223.7% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 562,760 shares of the company's stock worth $7,986,000 after purchasing an additional 388,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Venture Global by 828.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,825 shares of the company's stock worth $838,000 after purchasing an additional 109,594 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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