Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.7667.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Venture Global in a report on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $8.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Venture Global from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, US Capital Advisors raised shares of Venture Global to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

Venture Global Price Performance

Venture Global stock opened at $9.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. Venture Global has a 52 week low of $5.72 and a 52 week high of $19.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.58 and a 200-day moving average of $9.74.

Venture Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.017 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Venture Global’s payout ratio is 8.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.89, for a total transaction of $6,890,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 147.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,862,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,417,000 after buying an additional 13,620,863 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Venture Global by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,812,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,893,707 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 520.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,279,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,827,000 after purchasing an additional 5,268,053 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Venture Global by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,101,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,811,000 after purchasing an additional 273,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in Venture Global by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,963,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,849,000 after purchasing an additional 219,505 shares during 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.