Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $15.99, but opened at $13.31. Venture Global shares last traded at $14.0530, with a volume of 16,486,143 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Venture Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Venture Global from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. New Street Research set a $15.00 price target on Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Venture Global from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Venture Global currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.70.

Venture Global Trading Down 11.6%

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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.88. The stock has a market cap of $34.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.84.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. Venture Global had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.96%. The business had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter. Venture Global’s revenue was up 191.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.018 dividend. This is a boost from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total value of $11,830,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total transaction of $41,986,664.88. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 5,872,223 shares of company stock valued at $82,002,870 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VG. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Venture Global by 1,750.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Venture Global during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. MAI Capital Management acquired a new stake in Venture Global during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Venture Global during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Venture Global by 218.1% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,031 shares during the last quarter.

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.