Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Venture Global (NYSE:VG) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VG. Mizuho boosted their target price on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Venture Global in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Venture Global from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.13.

Venture Global Trading Up 1.9%

VG stock opened at $15.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $39.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.09. Venture Global has a 52 week low of $5.72 and a 52 week high of $17.62.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 34.08% and a net margin of 21.24%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Venture Global will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is 12.60%.

Insider Activity at Venture Global

In other news, Director Jimmy Staton sold 66,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.35, for a total transaction of $881,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,083,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,458,050. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sarah Blake sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.02, for a total transaction of $14,020,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,340,893 shares of company stock valued at $32,404,567. 84.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Venture Global in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $76,489,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Venture Global by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,812,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,739,000 after buying an additional 4,893,707 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Venture Global by 135.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,174,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,789,000 after buying an additional 2,402,771 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Venture Global by 258.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,248,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,155,000 after buying an additional 2,341,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Venture Global by 299.3% in the fourth quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 2,216,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661,312 shares in the last quarter.

About Venture Global

Venture Global, Inc is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company that develops, constructs and operates LNG export facilities in the United States. The company sources natural gas from domestic markets, liquefies it at its coastal facilities and supplies LNG to customers in international markets.

Venture Global’s operating and development portfolio is concentrated along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Its Calcasieu Pass LNG facility in Louisiana has entered commercial operations, while its Plaquemines LNG project in Louisiana is being developed and brought into service.