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

Key Points

• Shares gapped down before the open, dropping from $15.99 to $13.31 (about an 11.6% fall) with roughly 16.5 million shares traded and the last trade near $14.05.
• Wall Street views are mixed — the consensus rating is "Hold" with a $15.70 target, though several firms recently raised price targets (e.g., Morgan Stanley to $22, UBS to $21).
• Venture Global reported a strong quarter (EPS $0.41 vs. $0.35 expected; revenue $4.45B, +191.7% YoY) but insiders sold about 5.87 million shares (~$82M) in the last quarter despite insiders owning 86.7% of the stock.

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $15.99, but opened at $13.31. Venture Global shares last traded at $14.0530, with a volume of 16,486,143 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Venture Global from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $8.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Venture Global from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Venture Global from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Venture Global from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.70.

Venture Global Trading Down 11.6%

The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The company has a market capitalization of $34.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.88.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 27.96% and a net margin of 18.38%.The firm's revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.018 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Venture Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $11,830,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total value of $41,986,664.88. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 5,872,223 shares of company stock valued at $82,002,870 in the last quarter. 86.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Venture Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. MAI Capital Management bought a new stake in Venture Global during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Venture Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Venture Global by 161.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,949 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Venture Global by 1,750.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 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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