Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Stock Price Up 7% – What’s Next?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) shares traded up 7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $13.97 and last traded at $13.9150. 3,582,357 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 21,792,158 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Venture Global from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $18.00 price objective on Venture Global in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Venture Global from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Venture Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.27.

Venture Global Trading Up 7.5%

The firm has a market cap of $34.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 26.90% and a net margin of 16.94%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.018 dividend. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This is a positive change from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Venture Global’s payout ratio is currently 7.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.85, for a total value of $3,555,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total value of $41,986,664.88. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,094,446 shares of company stock worth $84,601,768. 84.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 147.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,862,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,417,000 after acquiring an additional 13,620,863 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,812,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,893,707 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 520.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,279,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,827,000 after acquiring an additional 5,268,053 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,101,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,811,000 after acquiring an additional 273,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Venture Global by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,963,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,849,000 after acquiring 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.