Traders Buy High Volume of Venture Global Call Options (NYSE:VG)

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 13,044 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 68% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,756 call options.

Venture Global Stock Performance

NYSE VG opened at $14.95 on Thursday. Venture Global has a 12-month low of $6.75 and a 12-month high of $25.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.62.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. On average, analysts predict that Venture Global will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.0165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Venture Global from $25.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Venture Global from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Venture Global from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jimmy D. Staton acquired 49,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.13 per share, with a total value of $496,370.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 49,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,370. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert B. Pender acquired 250,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.37 per share, for a total transaction of $2,342,500.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 250,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,342,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 803,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,108,260. 86.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VG. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Venture Global during the first quarter worth $3,547,294,000. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in Venture Global during the first quarter worth $125,788,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Venture Global during the first quarter worth $37,798,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Venture Global during the first quarter worth $32,099,000. Finally, Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. acquired a new position in Venture Global during the first quarter worth $28,673,000.

About Venture Global

Venture Global has fundamentally reshaped the development and construction of liquefied natural gas production, establishing us as a rapidly growing company delivering critical LNG to the world. Our innovative and disruptive approach, which is both scalable and repeatable, allows us to bring LNG to a global market years faster and at a lower cost.