Insider Selling: Venture Global (NYSE:VG) COO Sells $7,013,023.73 in Stock

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) COO Brian Cothran sold 473,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.81, for a total transaction of $7,013,023.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Brian Cothran also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 20th, Brian Cothran sold 120,623 shares of Venture Global stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.55, for a total transaction of $1,755,064.65.
• On Thursday, May 21st, Brian Cothran sold 31,910 shares of Venture Global stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.33, for a total transaction of $457,270.30.

Venture Global Stock Performance

Venture Global stock opened at $13.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Venture Global, Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.72 and a 1-year high of $19.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.70 and its 200 day moving average is $10.19.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 26.90%. Venture Global’s quarterly revenue was up 58.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VG. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,150,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the first quarter valued at approximately $152,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the first quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new position in shares of Venture Global during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VG. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Venture Global from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Venture Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Venture Global from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, New Street Research set a $15.00 target price on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.47.

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.