Brian Cothran Sells 152,660 Shares of Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Stock

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) COO Brian Cothran sold 152,660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total transaction of $2,465,459.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Venture Global Price Performance

NYSE:VG traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $15.26. 19,986,422 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,504,027. The company has a market cap of $38.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.26. Venture Global, Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.72 and a 1 year high of $17.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.12. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. The firm 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This is a boost from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 219,505 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Venture Global by 135.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,174,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,789,000 after buying an additional 2,402,771 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Venture Global by 1.7% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,918,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,001,000 after buying an additional 47,425 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Venture Global by 104.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,046,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,258,000 after buying an additional 1,046,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Venture Global during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $23,640,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VG. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Venture Global from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Venture Global in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Venture Global from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.13.

Venture Global Company Profile

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.