Venture Global Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:VG)

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors bought 23,032 call options on the company. This is an increase of 17% compared to the average daily volume of 19,633 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Venture Global news, VP Fory Musser sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total value of $10,900,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VG. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Venture Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. MAI Capital Management acquired a new position in Venture Global during the third quarter worth $29,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Venture Global during the second quarter worth $45,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Venture Global by 161.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Venture Global by 1,750.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter.

Venture Global Stock Down 3.4%

VG traded down $0.42 during trading on Monday, reaching $12.06. The company had a trading volume of 16,342,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,645,048. The company has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 5.70. Venture Global has a 12 month low of $5.72 and a 12 month high of $19.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.66.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. Venture Global had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.96%. The company had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter. Venture Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 191.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Venture Global will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.018 per share. This is a boost from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. New Street Research set a $15.00 target price on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Venture Global from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Venture Global to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Venture Global presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.34.

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.