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

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $11.59, but opened at $12.13. Venture Global shares last traded at $12.3150, with a volume of 2,914,243 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VG. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Venture Global from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Venture Global from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Venture Global currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.94.

Venture Global Stock Up 8.3%

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.33.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.07. Venture Global had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 26.90%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter. Venture Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.018 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Venture Global’s payout ratio is presently 7.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Venture Global news, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 111,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.05, for a total transaction of $1,227,776.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Fory Musser sold 233,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.61, for a total value of $2,947,398.35. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,570,511 shares of company stock valued at $59,690,394. Company insiders own 84.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VG. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Venture Global by 1,750.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Venture Global in the second quarter worth $26,000. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Venture Global by 218.1% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,031 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Venture Global by 217.5% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 4,268 shares in 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.