Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Trading Down 7.5% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Venture Global shares slid about 7.5% down to $13.35 intraday (previous close $14.44) on Thursday, with roughly 10.8 million shares traded—about half the stock's average daily volume.
• Several analysts raised targets—Goldman Sachs to $18.50 (buy) and Morgan Stanley to $22 (overweight)—yet the consensus remains a "Hold" with a $15.70 price target (8 Buy, 9 Hold).
• There has been significant insider selling

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 7.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $13.49 and last traded at $13.3510. Approximately 10,797,634 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 21,716,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VG. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Venture Global from $15.00 to $18.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Venture Global from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $8.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Venture Global from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.70.

Venture Global Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.13 and a 200-day moving average of $9.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.96%. The firm's revenue was up 191.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Venture Global

In related news, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total transaction of $41,986,664.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $11,830,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock worth $82,002,870 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 86.73% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VG. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Venture Global by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,336 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its position in shares of Venture Global by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 12,254 shares of the company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,363 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 93,615 shares of the company's stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407 shares during the period. Finally, American Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Venture Global by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 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.

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