Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $19.00. The stock had previously closed at $16.82, but opened at $17.42. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Venture Global shares last traded at $17.3260, with a volume of 6,709,706 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on VG. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Venture Global from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $8.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Venture Global to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.70.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In related news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $11,830,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total transaction of $41,986,664.88. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock valued at $82,002,870. 86.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Venture Global

Here are the key news stories impacting Venture Global this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major broker uplifts — JPMorgan raised its price target to $19 (maintaining a neutral rating) and UBS boosted its target to $21, driving fresh buy/hold interest and helping lift the stock. JPMorgan raises price target to $19 UBS Group Boosts Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Price Target to $21.00
• Positive Sentiment: Settlement with Edison clears legal uncertainty around early Calcasieu Pass LNG deliveries and may accelerate commercial clarity and European supply commitments — a catalyst for contract and revenue visibility. Venture Global and Edison settle arbitration dispute over early Calcasieu Pass LNG sales Venture Global Settles Arbitration, Expands LNG Supply to Europe
• Positive Sentiment: Sector bullishness: Goldman Sachs / industry notes flag room to run for select LNG names if supply tightness persists, supporting sentiment around VG. These 3 LNG Stocks Still Have Room to Rise, Says Goldman Sachs
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed/smaller price‑target moves and analyst notes surfaced across the tape (e.g., a reported PT lift to $13.74), providing additional headlines but with varying conviction and impact. Venture Global (VG) price target increased by 20.53% to 13.74
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst modeling became more cautious for the near term — at least one note lowered Q1 EPS estimates, a reminder that execution and near‑term macro/contract timing still present downside risk. Q1 EPS Estimates for Venture Global Lowered by Analyst

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Venture Global by 147.4% in the 3rd 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. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Venture Global by 520.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,279,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,827,000 after acquiring an additional 5,268,053 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Venture Global in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $76,489,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Venture Global by 82.7% in 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 during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Venture Global by 258.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,248,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,155,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341,253 shares during the last quarter.

Venture Global Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $43.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 5.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $11.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.96%. Venture Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 191.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.018 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Venture Global’s payout ratio is currently 8.14%.

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.