Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $9.91, but opened at $9.53. Venture Global shares last traded at $10.03, with a volume of 1,892,385 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion.

Venture Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.0165 dividend. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Venture Global from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $20.00 to $17.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Venture Global from $25.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Robert B. Pender acquired 269,500 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.39 per share, for a total transaction of $2,800,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 719,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,479,605.15. This represents a 59.84% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Sabel acquired 234,500 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.53 per share, for a total transaction of $2,469,285.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,185,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,487,369.05. The trade was a 24.65% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 803,000 shares of company stock worth $8,108,260. Company insiders own 86.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Venture Global

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PEAK6 LLC bought a new stake in shares of Venture Global during the first quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in Venture Global in the first quarter worth $2,673,000. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Venture Global in the first quarter worth $157,000. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. bought a new stake in Venture Global in the first quarter worth $28,673,000. Finally, Bruce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Venture Global in the first quarter worth $1,030,000.

Venture Global Trading Down 6.2%

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.38.

About Venture Global

Venture Global has fundamentally reshaped the development and construction of liquefied natural gas production, establishing us as a rapidly growing company delivering critical LNG to the world. Our innovative and disruptive approach, which is both scalable and repeatable, allows us to bring LNG to a global market years faster and at a lower cost.