Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Stock Price Up 4.9% – Still a Buy?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)’s share price was up 4.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $6.94 and last traded at $6.9350. Approximately 9,304,775 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 8,189,330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on VG shares. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (down previously from $17.00) on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $16.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Venture Global to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Venture Global from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.25.

Venture Global Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion and a P/E ratio of 9.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.16.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Venture Global had a return on equity of 29.55% and a net margin of 21.99%.The firm’s revenue was up 259.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.017 per share. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Venture Global’s payout ratio is 8.97%.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In other Venture Global news, VP Fory Musser sold 776,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.06, for a total value of $6,256,961.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.89, for a total transaction of $6,890,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,000,000 shares of company stock worth $22,904,729 in the last ninety days. 86.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Second Line Capital LLC bought a new position in Venture Global during the third quarter worth $152,000. Adalta Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Venture Global by 180.9% during the 3rd quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC now owns 16,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 10,675 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the third quarter worth about $220,000. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Venture Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $182,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Venture Global by 155.6% during the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 228,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,237,000 after purchasing an additional 138,879 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.