Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Trading Down 5.7% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Venture Global shares fell about 5.7% mid-day to roughly $14.87, with 7.63 million shares traded — roughly 63% below its average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but shifting higher, with Morgan Stanley upgrading to "overweight" and a $22 target and JPMorgan raising its target to $19; the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $15.70.
• The company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.41 vs. $0.35) and reported $4.45 billion in revenue (up 191.7% YoY) with strong margins, though insiders have sold roughly 5.87 million shares (~$82 million) in the past 90 days.

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 5.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $14.96 and last traded at $14.8690. 7,630,234 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 20,766,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on VG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Venture Global from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, New Street Research set a $15.00 price objective on Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Venture Global has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.70.

Venture Global Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $11.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.83. The company has a market capitalization of $35.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 5.70.

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

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.018 per share. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Venture Global news, VP Fory Musser sold 1,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total value of $10,900,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock worth $82,002,870 in the last 90 days. 86.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VG. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Venture Global in the second quarter worth about $26,000. MAI Capital Management acquired a new stake in Venture Global in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the fourth 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,031 shares during 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.