Venture Global Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:VG)

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 54,147 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 40% compared to the average daily volume of 38,544 call options.

Venture Global Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:VG traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $13.29. 6,685,737 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,347,107. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.41 and a 200 day moving average of $12.09. Venture Global has a 12 month low of $5.72 and a 12 month high of $17.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.33.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter. Venture Global’s quarterly revenue was up 58.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Venture Global will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Venture Global from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. US Capital Advisors set a $13.00 target price on Venture Global in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Venture Global from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.06.

Insider Transactions at Venture Global

In other Venture Global news, COO Brian Cothran sold 31,910 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.33, for a total transaction of $457,270.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.44, for a total transaction of $12,440,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 4,459,399 shares of company stock worth $58,670,384 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 84.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Venture Global

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Venture Global by 520.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,279,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,827,000 after purchasing an additional 5,268,053 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Venture Global by 828.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 109,594 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Venture Global by 304.4% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 149,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,352,000 after buying an additional 112,318 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Venture Global in the first quarter worth about $2,235,000. Finally, Clough Capital Partners L P purchased a new stake in Venture Global in the first quarter worth about $7,961,000.

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.