Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Venture Global (NYSE:VG)

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 22,044 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 57% compared to the average daily volume of 14,020 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Venture Global news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.89, for a total value of $6,890,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fory Musser sold 42,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.80, for a total value of $334,627.80. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,000,000 shares of company stock valued at $22,904,729. Insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VG. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the second quarter worth $3,148,000. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Venture Global during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,641,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Venture Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $815,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Venture Global by 61.1% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 616,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,607,000 after purchasing an additional 233,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Venture Global in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,706,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered Venture Global from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Venture Global from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 price target (down previously from $17.00) on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Venture Global to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued 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 an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.25.

Venture Global Stock Performance

Venture Global stock traded up $0.67 on Tuesday, hitting $8.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,510,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,337,991. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $7.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.10. Venture Global has a one year low of $5.72 and a one year high of $25.50. The firm has a market cap of $19.70 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.33.

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

Venture Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.017 per share. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.97%.

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.