Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Stock Price Breaks Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $12.72 and traded as low as $11.63. Venture Global shares last traded at $11.9980, with a volume of 25,874,152 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Venture Global from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Venture Global from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Venture Global from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Venture Global in a report on Friday, October 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Venture Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.87.

Venture Global Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $30.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.22. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.72.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.01. Venture Global had a return on equity of 34.08% and a net margin of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0180. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is 12.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jimmy D. Staton sold 66,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.35, for a total transaction of $881,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,083,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,458,050. This trade represents a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Cothran sold 152,660 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total transaction of $2,465,459.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,493,553 shares of company stock valued at $35,074,470. 84.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,041,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the third quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Venture Global by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 402,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,093,000 after purchasing an additional 19,820 shares during the last quarter. Guild Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Venture Global by 15.6% in the third quarter. Guild Investment Management Inc. now owns 149,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,884,000 after acquiring an additional 20,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Venture Global by 11.9% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 1,384,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,502,000 after acquiring an additional 146,749 shares during the last quarter.

About Venture Global

Venture Global, Inc (NYSE:VG) is a U.S.-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) company that develops, constructs, owns and operates LNG export facilities. The company sources natural gas, processes it into LNG and exports the product to customers in international energy markets.

Venture Global’s operating and development portfolio is concentrated along the U.S. Gulf Coast, particularly in Louisiana. Its projects include the Calcasieu Pass LNG facility, the Plaquemines LNG facility and additional proposed developments such as CP2 LNG and Delta LNG.