Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Up 7.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)’s share price shot up 7.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $11.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Venture Global traded as high as $13.74 and last traded at $13.9110. 9,531,509 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 15,652,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.97.

VG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Venture Global from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $11.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Venture Global from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, New Street Research set a $15.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total value of $11,830,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Fory Musser sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total value of $10,900,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,450,000 shares of company stock worth $28,236,193. 86.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

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

Venture Global Trading Up 15.2%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.67. The company has a market cap of $36.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 5.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. Venture Global had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.96%. The business had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.018 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This is a positive change from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Venture Global’s 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.