Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,443,324 Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,443,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,690,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 3.94% of Vital Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VTLE. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Vital Energy by 400.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Vital Energy by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Vital Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $147,000. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VTLE. Mizuho cut their price target on Vital Energy from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $52.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Vital Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.45.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

VTLE stock opened at $29.75 on Friday. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.02 and a 1-year high of $58.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 3.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.10.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.42). Vital Energy had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business had revenue of $476.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In related news, CEO M. Jason Pigott bought 2,500 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $37.85 per share, with a total value of $94,625.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 169,389 shares in the company, valued at $6,411,373.65. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

About Vital Energy

Vital Energy, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the United States. The company was formerly known as Laredo Petroleum, Inc and changed its name to Vital Energy, Inc in January 2023.