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

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors bought 23,032 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 17% compared to the typical volume of 19,633 call options.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In other news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 30,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $399,100.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 a total of 2,330,700 shares of company stock valued at $26,684,100 in the last 90 days. 86.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Venture Global by 1,750.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Venture Global in the second quarter worth $26,000. MAI Capital Management purchased a new stake in Venture Global during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Venture Global by 161.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter.

Venture Global Stock Down 7.8%

Shares of NYSE:VG opened at $11.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 5.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.93. Venture Global has a 52-week low of $5.72 and a 52-week high of $19.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.14 and a 200 day moving average of $9.66.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (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 during the quarter. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 191.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Venture Global will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.018 dividend. This is an increase from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Venture Global’s payout ratio is currently 8.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Venture Global from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Venture Global from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Venture Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Venture Global in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Venture Global presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.90.

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.