Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Down 10.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) dropped 10.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $10.95 and last traded at $11.3570. Approximately 7,054,601 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 21,690,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Venture Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Venture Global from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Venture Global from $15.00 to $18.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research raised Venture Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Venture Global from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.77.

Venture Global Trading Down 9.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $28.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $12.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.82.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 27.96% and a net margin of 18.38%.The business’s revenue was up 191.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.018 per share. This is a boost from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.14%.

Insider Transactions at Venture Global

In other news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $3,200,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total value of $41,986,664.88. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock valued at $82,002,870. Company insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Venture Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,641,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Venture Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $13,632,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Venture Global by 223.7% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 562,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,986,000 after buying an additional 388,892 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Venture Global by 828.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 109,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in Venture Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,837,000.

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.