Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Down 4% – Time to Sell?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) dropped 4% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $13.66 and last traded at $13.74. Approximately 2,508,611 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 19,509,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VG shares. Mizuho increased their target price on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Venture Global from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $18.00 price objective on Venture Global in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Venture Global from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.06.

Venture Global Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40. The stock has a market cap of $30.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.96.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter. Venture Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.018 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Venture Global

In other news, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.44, for a total transaction of $12,440,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jonathan W. Thayer sold 111,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.21, for a total value of $1,578,887.31. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,459,399 shares of company stock valued at $58,670,384. Corporate insiders own 84.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VG. Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new position in Venture Global during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,150,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the 1st quarter worth $152,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Venture Global in the 1st quarter valued at $460,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Venture Global in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new position in Venture Global in the 2nd quarter worth $213,000.

Venture Global Company Profile

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.