Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Down 5.2% – Time to Sell?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) shares fell 5.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $14.35 and last traded at $14.3180. Approximately 1,973,778 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 18,542,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research cut Venture Global from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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 company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Citigroup raised Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $12.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Venture Global from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.07.

Venture Global Trading Down 1.8%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $13.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.88. 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 company has a market cap of $36.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.26.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last released 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 business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 34.08%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 111,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total value of $1,539,998.46. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,340,893 shares of company stock worth $32,404,567. 84.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Venture Global in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Venture Global by 218.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,031 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Venture Global by 67.5% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 4,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the period.

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.