Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Strong-Buy Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Venture Global (NYSE:VG) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

VG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup upgraded Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Venture Global from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.94.

Venture Global Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:VG opened at $12.97 on Tuesday. Venture Global has a 52 week low of $5.72 and a 52 week high of $17.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.53. The company has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 26.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Venture Global will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.018 per share. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.78%.

Insider Transactions at Venture Global

In other Venture Global news, VP Fory Musser sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.09, for a total value of $26,180,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 111,112 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total value of $1,277,788.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,570,511 shares of company stock worth $59,690,394. 84.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VG. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Venture Global by 520.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,279,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,827,000 after acquiring an additional 5,268,053 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 828.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 109,594 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Venture Global by 304.4% during the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 149,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 112,318 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Venture Global by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,871,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,583,000 after purchasing an additional 995,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 263,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 91,524 shares during the period.

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.