Natixis Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 12,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Vital Energy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 183,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,939,000 after buying an additional 9,246 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,507,000 after acquiring an additional 35,133 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Vital Energy by 153.9% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 43,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 26,089 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 34.7% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP boosted its position in Vital Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VTLE shares. Mizuho cut their price target on Vital Energy from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.09.

Vital Energy Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE VTLE opened at $32.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.16 and a 200-day moving average of $36.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.85 and a 12 month high of $58.30. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 3.16.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.15. Vital Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 9.05%. 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 firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Vital Energy’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In other news, 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 value of $285,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,306.64. This represents a 11.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $155,481.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $796,538.76. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. Company 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.