Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Stock Price Up 4.9% – Here’s What Happened

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) traded up 4.9% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $13.15 and last traded at $13.2750. Approximately 1,654,873 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 17,790,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Venture Global from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Venture Global from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Venture Global from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Venture Global has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.87.

Venture Global Trading Up 4.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $33.16 billion, a PE ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.79.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.46. Venture Global had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 39.19%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 42.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Venture Global’s payout ratio is currently 7.73%.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In other news, COO Brian Cothran sold 152,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total value of $2,465,459.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Fory Musser sold 259,413 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.26, for a total value of $3,699,229.38. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,227,553 shares of company stock valued at $31,495,370 in the last quarter. 84.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VG. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Venture Global during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Venture Global during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Venture Global by 17,041.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 5,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in Venture Global during the third quarter valued at approximately $127,000.

About Venture Global

Venture Global, Inc. is a U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company that develops, constructs and operates facilities to produce and export LNG. Its activities include sourcing natural gas, processing it into LNG and delivering the fuel to customers in international markets, often through long-term supply agreements. Founded in 2013, the company is based in Arlington, Virginia, and focuses its LNG projects on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast. Its facilities include Calcasieu Pass and Plaquemines LNG, while it is also developing additional export capacity, including the proposed CP2 project.