Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Trading Down 10.4% – Here’s Why

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) traded down 10.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $10.95 and last traded at $11.3570. 7,054,601 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 21,690,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on VG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Venture Global from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Venture Global from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their target price on Venture Global from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. New Street Research set a $15.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $15.00 to $18.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Venture Global has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.77.

Venture Global Stock Down 10.1%

The firm has a market cap of $28.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.51 and a 200 day moving average of $9.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. The firm 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%.Venture Global’s revenue was up 191.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.018 per share. This is a boost from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Venture Global’s payout ratio is currently 8.14%.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In other Venture Global news, VP Fory Musser sold 1,000,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total value of $10,900,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sarah Blake sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $3,200,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock valued at $82,002,870. Company insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Venture Global by 1,750.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Venture Global during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. MAI Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 218.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring 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.