Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $14.68, but opened at $15.75. Venture Global shares last traded at $15.23, with a volume of 5,152,869 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VG shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Venture Global from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Venture Global from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $8.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Venture Global from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Venture Global in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, New Street Research set a $15.00 price target on Venture Global in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Venture Global currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.70.

Venture Global Stock Up 0.9%

The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 5.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.87.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 27.96% and a net margin of 18.38%.The business’s revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.018 dividend. This is a boost from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 2,611,111 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fory Musser sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total transaction of $10,900,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,872,223 shares of company stock valued at $82,002,870. 86.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VG. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,150,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Venture Global during the first quarter valued at $152,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Venture Global in the first quarter worth $460,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Venture Global by 541.8% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 6,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Venture Global by 61.1% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 616,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,607,000 after buying an additional 233,978 shares during the period.

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.