Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Stock Price Up 7.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Venture Global shares jumped 7.3% after Scotiabank raised its price target from $9.00 to $11.00, with the stock trading as high as $13.74 and mid-day volume about 39% below average.
• Analyst coverage is mixed — the consensus is a Hold rating with an average price target of $13.23 (seven Buys, eight Holds, two Sells), while firms like RBC and Raymond James have raised price targets and positive ratings.
• Insiders have been net sellers (2,450,000 shares worth $28.24M sold over the last three months) despite insiders owning 86.73%, and the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.41 vs. $0.35) and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.018.

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 7.3% during trading on Wednesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $11.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Venture Global traded as high as $13.74 and last traded at $13.9110. 9,531,509 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 15,652,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.97.

VG has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. US Capital Advisors upgraded Venture Global to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Venture Global in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Venture Global from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Venture Global from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 119,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total value of $1,552,093.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,450,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,236,193 over the last three months. 86.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VG. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Venture Global by 218.1% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,421 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 3,031 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Venture Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Venture Global by 1,614.1% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 33,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 31,669 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in Venture Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $531,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Venture Global by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 263,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 91,524 shares during the last quarter.

Venture Global Trading Up 5.8%

The company has a market cap of $33.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 5.67. The business's 50-day moving average price is $9.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.63. 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 data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.018 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Venture Global's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Venture Global's payout ratio is presently 8.14%.

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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