Piper Sandler Lowers Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target to $35.00

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price target cut by analysts at Piper Sandler from $37.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.11% from the company’s current price.

VTLE has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Vital Energy from $41.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp cut Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.17.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VTLE stock opened at $31.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 3.16. Vital Energy has a 52-week low of $25.85 and a 52-week high of $58.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.60 and its 200 day moving average is $37.70.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.15. Vital Energy had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 25.09%. The company had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Energy will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vital Energy news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $61,135.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares in the company, valued at $879,130.02. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total transaction of $285,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 77,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,306.64. This represents a 11.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,168 shares of company stock worth $502,017. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTLE. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 25.5% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 13.5% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 45,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,385,000 after buying an additional 5,400 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Vital Energy by 331.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 43,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 33,354 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 7.3% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,833,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,348,000 after purchasing an additional 17,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Vital Energy Company Profile

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.