Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Down 6.5% on Insider Selling

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)’s share price fell 6.5% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $10.57 and last traded at $10.72. 6,253,927 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 12,776,060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.46.

Specifically, VP Fory Musser sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total value of $10,900,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. US Capital Advisors raised Venture Global to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. New Street Research set a $15.00 price objective on Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Venture Global from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Venture Global in a report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Venture Global currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.34.

Venture Global Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $29.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 5.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.70.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last announced 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 quarterly revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is 8.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Venture Global by 147.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,862,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,417,000 after acquiring an additional 13,620,863 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Venture Global by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,812,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,893,707 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,268,053 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Venture Global by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,101,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,811,000 after purchasing an additional 273,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 4.6% in 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 period.

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.