Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Trading Down 5.9% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares fell 5.9% Friday to about $12.49, with trading volume of 1.68 million shares — roughly 92% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Venture Global holds a consensus rating of "Hold" with a $15.77 average price target, while Morgan Stanley upgraded to "overweight" (target $22) and others issued both raises and a sell cut.
• The company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.41 vs. $0.35) and reported revenue up 191.7% YoY to $4.45 billion, but carries a high debt-to-equity ratio (3.24) and insiders sold about 6.09 million shares (~$84.6M) last quarter.

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) fell 5.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $12.81 and last traded at $12.4910. 1,678,100 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 21,665,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VG. Citigroup boosted 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. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Venture Global from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Venture Global from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $8.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Venture Global presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.77.

Venture Global Stock Performance

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 business's 50 day moving average is $13.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.80. The company has a market cap of $31.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.84.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This is an increase from Venture Global's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Venture Global's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.14%.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In other Venture Global news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $3,200,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 111,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.89, for a total transaction of $1,321,109.79. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 6,094,446 shares of company stock worth $84,601,768 in the last quarter. 84.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in Venture Global in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. MAI Capital Management purchased a new stake in Venture Global in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Venture Global by 161.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,949 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,820 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Venture Global by 1,750.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Venture Global in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000.

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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