Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $13.08, but opened at $12.30. Venture Global shares last traded at $12.0370, with a volume of 4,675,765 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on VG shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $18.00 price target on Venture Global in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Venture Global from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Venture Global from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, US Capital Advisors set a $13.00 target price on Venture Global in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.31.

Venture Global Trading Down 9.5%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.00 and a 200-day moving average of $10.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.27.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.07. Venture Global had a return on equity of 26.90% and a net margin of 16.94%.The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter. Venture Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.018 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is 7.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Venture Global news, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total transaction of $41,986,664.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sarah Blake sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $3,200,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,881,623 shares of company stock worth $112,229,295. 84.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 147.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,862,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,417,000 after buying an additional 13,620,863 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,812,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,739,000 after buying an additional 4,893,707 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 520.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,279,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,827,000 after buying an additional 5,268,053 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,101,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,811,000 after buying an additional 273,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,963,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,849,000 after buying an additional 219,505 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.