Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $19.00 to $16.00. The stock had previously closed at $12.75, but opened at $12.37. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Venture Global shares last traded at $12.5260, with a volume of 3,422,924 shares changing hands.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Venture Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Venture Global from $15.00 to $18.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Venture Global from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Venture Global

In other Venture Global news, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total value of $41,986,664.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total value of $11,830,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock worth $82,002,870 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Venture Global during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,641,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Venture Global during the third quarter valued at $13,632,000. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the third quarter valued at about $4,706,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Venture Global by 223.7% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 562,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,986,000 after buying an additional 388,892 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Venture Global by 828.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,000 after buying an additional 109,594 shares in the last quarter.

Venture Global Trading Down 2.8%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $12.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $29.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.84.

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

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.018 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is 8.14%.

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.