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

Shares of Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $13.38, but opened at $12.70. Venture Global shares last traded at $12.9150, with a volume of 1,679,811 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on VG. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Venture Global from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Venture Global from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. US Capital Advisors set a $13.00 target price on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Venture Global in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.06.

Venture Global Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.41 and its 200-day moving average is $12.09. The firm has a market cap of $32.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.07. Venture Global had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 26.90%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.018 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Venture Global’s payout ratio is currently 7.78%.

Insider Transactions at Venture Global

In related news, COO Brian Cothran sold 473,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.81, for a total value of $7,013,023.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.44, for a total transaction of $12,440,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,459,399 shares of company stock valued at $58,670,384. Company insiders own 84.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VG. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Venture Global by 1,750.0% in the 4th 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 position in Venture Global during the second quarter worth $26,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Venture Global in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 218.1% in the 4th 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 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.