Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on VG. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Venture Global from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.94.

Venture Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VG opened at $12.97 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40. Venture Global has a twelve month low of $5.72 and a twelve month high of $17.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.53.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 26.90%. The company’s revenue was up 58.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Venture Global will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 111,112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total transaction of $1,277,788.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.44, for a total value of $12,440,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,570,511 shares of company stock valued at $59,690,394. 84.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Venture Global by 8.1% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,281 shares in the last quarter. Corecam Pte. Ltd. increased its position in Venture Global by 4,249.2% during the second quarter. Corecam Pte. Ltd. now owns 502,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,591,000 after purchasing an additional 490,780 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Venture Global by 48.3% in the second quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares during the period. Finally, Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in Venture Global in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,829,000.

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.