Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $4.05 Million Holdings in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,842 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,571 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.34% of Vital Energy worth $4,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Vital Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 276.9% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 247.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Vital Energy by 2,590.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VTLE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vital Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.70.

Vital Energy Stock Down 10.8 %

Shares of VTLE stock opened at $23.82 on Tuesday. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.48 and a 52-week high of $58.30. The stock has a market cap of $908.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.01 and a beta of 3.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.35 and its 200-day moving average is $31.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.27. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.48% and a negative net margin of 8.89%. The firm had revenue of $534.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.90 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS 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.