Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) Receives $16.13 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.1333.

VG has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Venture Global from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Venture Global from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Venture Global from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, US Capital Advisors set a $13.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Friday, May 29th.

Venture Global Stock Performance

Shares of VG stock opened at $12.91 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.32. Venture Global has a 52 week low of $5.72 and a 52 week high of $17.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 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.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 34.08%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Venture Global will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.60%.

Insider Transactions at Venture Global

In other Venture Global news, VP Fory Musser sold 447,534 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.02, for a total transaction of $6,274,426.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 111,111 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.40, for a total transaction of $1,599,998.40. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,493,553 shares of company stock worth $35,242,247 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 84.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,963,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,849,000 after purchasing an additional 219,505 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 135.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,174,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,789,000 after acquiring an additional 2,402,771 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Venture Global by 1.7% in the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,918,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,001,000 after purchasing an additional 47,425 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Venture Global by 104.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,046,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 1st quarter valued at $23,640,000.

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.