Analysts Set Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) Price Target at $15.77

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.7667.

VG has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Venture Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Zacks Research raised Venture Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Venture Global from $15.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Venture Global from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Venture Global from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th.

Venture Global Stock Up 5.9%

VG stock opened at $12.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.84. Venture Global has a 1-year low of $5.72 and a 1-year high of $19.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $12.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. Venture Global had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.96%. The company had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Venture Global will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Fory Musser sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total value of $10,900,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $11,830,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 6,094,446 shares of company stock worth $84,601,768 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Venture Global by 147.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,862,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,417,000 after buying an additional 13,620,863 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Venture Global by 520.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,279,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,827,000 after acquiring an additional 5,268,053 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Venture Global during the 2nd quarter worth $76,489,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Venture Global by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,812,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,893,707 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Venture Global by 258.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,248,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,155,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341,253 shares in the last quarter.

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.