Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Trading Down 4.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)’s share price was down 4.5% on Monday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $39.00 to $37.00. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vital Energy traded as low as $30.07 and last traded at $30.07. Approximately 230,835 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 895,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.49.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on VTLE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of 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, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $155,481.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,538.76. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total transaction of $285,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,306.64. This represents a 11.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Vital Energy by 14.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,214,000 after buying an additional 220,871 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 19.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,227,000 after purchasing an additional 282,574 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $64,690,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,031,000 after purchasing an additional 17,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 6.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,507,000 after purchasing an additional 35,133 shares in the last quarter. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vital Energy Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 3.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $461.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Vital Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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.