Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) gapped down prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $14.79, but opened at $14.16. Venture Global shares last traded at $13.9250, with a volume of 6,869,660 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VG. Weiss Ratings upgraded Venture Global from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Venture Global in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Venture Global from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Venture Global from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.87.

Venture Global Stock Down 7.7%

The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44. The company has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.70.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 34.08%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0180. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.60%.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In other news, COO Brian Cothran sold 152,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total value of $2,465,459.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Fory Musser sold 259,413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.26, for a total value of $3,699,229.38. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,493,553 shares of company stock valued at $35,074,470 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 84.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 27,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in Venture Global by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in Venture Global by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 13,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Venture Global by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in Venture Global by 10.1% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 17,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618 shares during the period.

About Venture Global

Venture Global, Inc (NYSE:VG) is a U.S.-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) company that develops, constructs, owns and operates LNG export facilities. The company sources natural gas, processes it into LNG and exports the product to customers in international energy markets.

Venture Global’s operating and development portfolio is concentrated along the U.S. Gulf Coast, particularly in Louisiana. Its projects include the Calcasieu Pass LNG facility, the Plaquemines LNG facility and additional proposed developments such as CP2 LNG and Delta LNG.