Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.1250.

Several research analysts have commented on VG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Venture Global from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Venture Global from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th.

Venture Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VG opened at $14.27 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44. Venture Global has a 52-week low of $5.72 and a 52-week high of $17.62.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 34.08% and a net margin of 21.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Venture Global will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Venture Global’s payout ratio is presently 5.51%.

Insider Activity

In other Venture Global news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 1,000,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.02, for a total transaction of $14,020,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 111,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total value of $1,539,998.46. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,340,893 shares of company stock valued at $32,404,567 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 84.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in Venture Global by 3.8% in the second quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 27,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 12,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Venture Global by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 93,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 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.