Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $27.00. The stock had previously closed at $30.08, but opened at $29.23. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vital Energy shares last traded at $28.71, with a volume of 62,554 shares.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on VTLE. Mizuho lowered their target price on Vital Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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 research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, 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 report on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In related news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $61,135.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $879,130.02. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total transaction of $285,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 77,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,306.64. This trade 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 worth $502,017 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTLE. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Vital Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $4,250,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 96.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 145,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,905,000 after buying an additional 71,385 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 buying an additional 282,574 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Vital Energy by 52.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after acquiring an additional 22,711 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 800.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 541,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,263,000 after acquiring an additional 481,248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Vital Energy Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 3.19.

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 firm had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.