Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $9.05, but opened at $9.99. Venture Global shares last traded at $9.6140, with a volume of 9,283,555 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Venture Global from $16.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $16.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Venture Global from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $8.00 price target on Venture Global in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Venture Global from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.89.

Venture Global Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $23.78 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47. 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’s 50-day moving average is $7.15 and its 200-day moving average is $10.78.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Venture Global had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 29.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 259.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.017 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Fory Musser sold 42,901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.80, for a total transaction of $334,627.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction dated 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,000,000 shares of company stock worth $22,904,729. 86.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Venture Global by 147.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,862,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,417,000 after buying an additional 13,620,863 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Venture Global during the second quarter valued at $76,489,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Venture Global by 24.8% in the second quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,973,000 after acquiring an additional 344,390 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Venture Global by 65.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 979,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,894,000 after purchasing an additional 386,603 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Venture Global during the 3rd quarter worth about $13,632,000.

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.