Sands Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Venture Global, Inc. $VG

Sands Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,484,070 shares of the company’s stock after selling 370,469 shares during the quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC owned about 0.31% of Venture Global worth $106,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Venture Global by 961.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 232,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,303,000 after purchasing an additional 210,861 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in Venture Global during the third quarter worth about $653,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Venture Global during the third quarter worth about $13,632,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Venture Global by 275.2% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 88,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 64,854 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Venture Global by 17.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 28,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 4,201 shares during the period.

Venture Global Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of VG opened at $11.39 on Wednesday. Venture Global, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.72 and a fifty-two week high of $19.50. The company has a market capitalization of $27.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 5.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.65. 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 (NYSE:VG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter was up 191.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. 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. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is 8.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank set a $9.00 price target on Venture Global in a report on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Venture Global from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. US Capital Advisors raised Venture Global to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Venture Global from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $11,830,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fory Musser sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total transaction of $10,900,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,330,700 shares of company stock valued at $26,684,100. Insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

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.