Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Stock Price Down 6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) dropped 6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $12.17 and last traded at $12.31. Approximately 4,604,750 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 15,470,279 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Venture Global from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Venture Global from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered their price objective 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, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Venture Global currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.23.

Venture Global Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.63. The company has a market cap of $31.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10 and a beta of 5.67.

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 return on equity of 27.96% and a net margin of 18.38%.The business had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter. Venture Global’s quarterly revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.018 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This is a positive change from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Venture Global

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 value of $11,830,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sarah Blake sold 119,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total transaction of $1,552,093.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,450,000 shares of company stock valued at $28,236,193. 86.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VG. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Venture Global by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 12,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Venture Global by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Venture Global by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 93,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Venture Global by 14.3% during the third quarter. American Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter.

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.