Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $14.85, but opened at $15.75. Venture Global shares last traded at $16.64, with a volume of 39,519,065 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Venture Global from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research raised Venture Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded Venture Global to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.23.

Venture Global Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 5.70.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 191.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.018 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Venture Global’s payout ratio is 8.14%.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In other news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total value of $11,830,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sarah Blake sold 119,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total value of $1,552,093.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 2,450,000 shares of company stock worth $28,236,193 in the last three months. 86.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Venture Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,641,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Venture Global in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,632,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 61.1% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 616,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,607,000 after acquiring an additional 233,978 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Venture Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,706,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Venture Global by 223.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 562,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,986,000 after acquiring an additional 388,892 shares during the period.

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.