Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Stock Price Up 7.7% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Stock jump: Venture Global's shares rose about 7.7% Wednesday to roughly $13.09, on light volume (~8.85M shares vs a ~21.75M daily average).
• Mixed analyst view: The consensus rating is a Hold with a $15.77 target, although recent upgrades include BofA (to $16, buy) and Morgan Stanley (to $22, overweight).
• Fundamentals and insider activity: The company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.41 vs. $0.35) with revenue up 191.7% year-over-year, but insiders sold ~6.09M shares (~$84.6M) in the past three months despite insiders owning 84.24% of shares.

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 7.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $12.97 and last traded at $13.0940. Approximately 8,846,536 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 21,746,422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley raised Venture Global from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. New Street Research set a $15.00 price target on Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Venture Global from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Venture Global from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Venture Global currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.77.

Venture Global Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $32.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.84.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 27.96% and a net margin of 18.38%.The company's revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.32 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 paid a $0.018 dividend. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Venture Global's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Venture Global's payout ratio is presently 8.14%.

Insider Activity

In other Venture Global news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sarah Blake sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.85, for a total transaction of $3,555,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,094,446 shares of company stock valued at $84,601,768. Company insiders own 84.24% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Venture Global by 1,750.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. MAI Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Venture Global in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in 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 last quarter.

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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